Objectives:This study was conducted to determine the effect of ethanolic extract of the
dried stems of Tinospora crispain a male rat model of hepatic fibrosis caused by the
hepatotoxin, thioacetamide.
Materials and Methods:The extract was gavaged daily to the rats, at doses of 100 and
200 mg/kg along with thioacetamide at a dose of 200 mg/kg twice weekly. To assess the
effectivity of extract, against thioacetamide, the activity of aminotransferases (alanine
aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase), alkaline phosphatase (AP); and bilirubin
were measured, together with morphological and histopathological indices in the liver
of healthy and thioacetamide-treated rats.
Results:A significant increase in the activity of liver enzymes, bilirubin and G-glutamyl
transferase and gross and histopathological changes were determined. Although previous
in vitro study established that this extract had strong antioxidant activity, this in vivostudy
establishes that this extract contains hepatotoxins whose identity may be quite different
from those compounds with antioxidant properties.
Conclusion: The study confirms that complete reliance on data obtained using in
vitro methodologies may lead to erroneous conclusions pertaining to the safety of
phytopharmaceuticals.