Tephrosia purpurea Ameliorates Oxidative and Histological Alterations Induced by Aflatoxin B1 in Rats

Background: Tephrosia purpurea (TP), commonly known as wild indigo, is traditionally used in treatment of splenomegaly. It is an important ingredient of various Ayurvedic medicines used in treatment of liver diseases. Objectives: Thus, the study was undertaken to investigate the hepatoprotective efficacy of ethanolic extract of TP against Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) induced liver injury. Materials and Methods: The ethanolic extract of TP was prepared by Soxhlet extraction method. Presence of polyphenols and antioxidant potential were assessed. The antiproliferative activity of extract was tested on HepG2 cells using MTT assay. For in vivo studies female Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups with 6 animals in each. The entire regime was of 33 days. AFB1 was administered at 200 μg/kg dose and TP was administered at three different doses (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg). 24 hr after last treatment the animals were euthanised and liver and blood samples were collected. Results: 45.77± 2.53 μg/ ml IC50 of extract was seen on HepG2 cells. A significant elevation in serum transaminases, triglycerides (TG) and LPO was seen after AFB1 intoxication. Whereas decline in activities of GSH, SOD, CAT, G6Pase and ATPase were observed. Treatment with different doses of TP restored its activities towards normal indices. Maximum recovery was seen with 300 mg/kg dose of TP. Conclusion: It may be concluded that TP possess hepatoprotective efficacy against AFB1 induced oxidative injury and it may prove to be of clinical use after further studies.