EVALUATION OF HEPATOPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF SOLANUM AMERICANUM AGAINST ALLY ALCOHOL INDUCED HEPATOTOXICITY IN ALBINO RATS.

There is an increasing interest in herbal remedies because of their effectiveness, less side effects in clinical experiments and relatively low cost. Solanum americanum, commonly known as American nightshade or Glossy nightshade is an herbaceous flowering plant of wide though uncertain native range, Itis reported in different literature with beneficial effects as anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, anti-vasodilator, anti-jaundice and other uses dyes for sensitization, proteinase inhibitor-II etc. The present study was conducted to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of aqueous extract of whole plant of Solanum americanum against ally alcohol induced liver damage in rats. The aqueous extract of Solanum americanum was administered orally tothe animals with hepatotoxicity induced by ally alcohol. Silymarin was given as reference standard. The plant aqueous extract was effective in protecting the liver against the injury induced by ally alcohol in rats. This was evident from biochemical investigation of serum glutamate oxaloacetate transeaminase (SGOT), serum glutamic pyruvate transeaminase (SGPT), Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Total Bilirubin (TB), Total Protein (TP) and Albumin. Histopathology of ally alcohol treated group rat liver showed intense centrilobular necrosis, congestion of sinusoids with small lipid globules. Whereas in aqueous extract of Solanum americanum whole plant and Silymarin showed almost normal lobular architecture with mild centrilobular degeneration of hepatocytes without necrotic changes. It was concluded from the result that the aqueous extract of Solanum americanum whole plant possesses hepatoprotective activity against ally alcohol induced hepatotoxicity in rats and it is less when compared to Silymarin as evidenced by the significant difference in biochemical parameters.