Screening of ethyl acetate extract of Bridelia micrantha for hepatoprotective and anti-oxidant activities on Wistar rats.

OBJECTIVE To explore the hepatoprotective and anti-oxidant activities of the methanolic leaf extract of Bridelia micrantha (B. micrantha) on paracetamol induced liver damage in Wistar rats. METHODS Parameters were measured including alanine aminotransaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bilirubin and total protein. The anti-oxidant effects were studied using the 1, 1-Diphenynl-2-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assay methods. RESULTS B. micrantha extract decreased the level of AST in the rats given PCM from (129.47±0.92I) IU/L to (57.78±1.71) IU/L (P<0.05). This was lower than the value for Silymarin which was (59.92±1.41) IU/L. ALT concentration was reduced from (150.18±2.23) IU/L to (79.10±2.01) IU/L (P<0.05). ALP was reduced from (49.86±0.85) IU/L to (29.64±1.53) IU/L (P<0.05). Total bilirubin was reduced from (2.14±0.10 mg/dL) to (0.18±0.07) mg/dL (P<0.05) while total protein was increased from (4.26±0.30) mg/dL to (6.20±0.19) mg/dL (P<0.05). Concentrations ranging from 10 - 400 μg/mL of B. micrantha were assayed for antioxidant activities. The DPPH assay showed 98% antioxidant activity at concentration of 400 μg/mL. The FRAP values were 0.016, 0.39, 0.455, 0.601 and 1.382 μM at 10, 50, 100, 200 and 400 μg/mL respectively. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that B. micrantha has hepatoprotective and anti oxidant potentials. However, further work involving fractionation needs to done to isolate the active compound responsible for the hepatoprotective activity.