Comparative Efficacy of Dried Fruits of Carica Papaya Linn. and Vitamin-E on Preventing Hepatotoxicity in Rats.

ABSTRACT

In the absence of an effective treatment in modern medicine, efforts are being made to find suitable herbal remedies for hepatitis. This prospective experimental study was conducted in the department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka from July 2006 to June 2007 to evaluate the hepatoprotective effects of Carica papaya against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced hepatotoxicity and compared it with that of vitamin-E. Total 36 adult rats were used and they were divided into six equal groups namely A, B, C, D, E and F. All the rats were fed with normal diet and 2ml distilled water orally for 7 days. In addition, Group D received Carica papaya extract, Group E received olive oil and Group F received vitamin E orally per day for 7 days. On the seventh day CCl4 was administered to all the rats except Group A and was sacrificed on 8th day of experiment. Serum bilirubin, alanine amino transferase (ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase and hepatic histopathology were done thereafter. Carica papaya and vitamin E showed significant hepatoprotection against CCL4 induced hepatotoxicity but Carica papaya showed more significant changes in ALP level than vitamin E. Prevention of hepatic necrosis and fatty degeneration were also observed in Carica papaya and vitamin E pretreated rats but there is no significant difference.