IN VITRO AND IN VIVO EFFICIENCY OF EUPHORBIA ANTIQUORUM AS ANTIOXIDANT AND HEPATOPROTECTIVE AGAINST CCL4 – HEPATIC HAZARDS IN RATS.

The aqueous extract of the aerial parts of Euphorbia antiquorum (EA) Linn was evaluated for its in vitro antioxidant efficiency as well as in vivo hepatoprotective and antioxidant activity to validate its use in traditional therapeutic medications. The activity of different doses of EA extract ( at 20 ug ,40 ug, 60 ug, 80 ug and 100 ug/ml) exerted in vitro significant antioxidant activity  as it caused  reducing power, hydroxyl and superoxide anion radical scavenging activities and inhibition properties. The in vivo study was performed on 50 male and female albino rats from the animal house of National Organization for Drug Control and Research (NODCAR) weighing 150 - 250 grams. Normal animals were employed simultaneously with experimental groups. Rats were divided equally into five groups (G1 ) rats received  saline as a normal for  4 weeks , (G 2) rats received orally CCl4 and were served as intoxicated control  for 4 weeks,(G3) rats received both CCl4 and silymarin as a reference agent for 4  weeks  ,(G4) rats received  both CCl4 and EA (125 mg/kg b.w)  for 4 weeks  and (G5) received both CCl4 and EA (250 mg/kg b.w)   for 4 weeks. It may be pointed out in the current study that antioxidant efficacy was reinforced by a significant hepatoprotection of EA (at 125 mg and 250 mg/kg b.w) displayed  by decreasing the serum levels of alanine Transferase ( ALT), aspartate transferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) , as well as bilirubin (total, conjugated and unconjugated) ,cholesterol, triglycerides (T.G), Total proteins (T.P), albumin ( Alb) and carbonyl protein (PC) after treated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), the two extracts also significantly increased lipid peroxidation (malondialdhyde MAD) levels of tissue in a dose dependant manner and increased superoxide anion radical (SOD), glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxide (GPX), glutathione transferase (GST) levels. The antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities of the two test extracts where assessed in vivo and in vitro where either of the two test extracts or silymarin exhibited marked hepatoprotection against the toxic dose of CCL4. The results obtained pointed out that EA could be a potential source of natural antioxidant and hepatoprotection.