Assessment of hepatoprotective activity of Achillea biebersteinii ethanol extract on carbon tetrachlorideinduced liver damage in rats
Sanem HOŞBAŞ*, Ali HARTEVİOĞLU**, Mert PEKCAN***, Didem DELİORMAN ORHAN*°

* Gazi University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacognosy, Turkey
** Şube Pharmacy, 06490, Bahçelievler, Turkey
*** Ankara University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Turkey

° Corresponding Author E-mail: didemdeliorman@gmail.com

Summary
Achillea biebersteinii Afan. (Asteraceae) is claimed to be effective for treatment of jaundice by public in eastern Turkey. In the present study, hepatoprotective effect of A. biebersteinii ethanol extract was evaluated against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) -induced subacute hepatotoxicity in rats. For the activity assessment on CCl4-induced hepatic injury the following biochemical parameters were evaluated: Plasma and hepatic tissue malondialdehyde formation, and liver tissue glutathione, catalase levels, -as well as plasma enzyme levels (aspartate transferase, alanine transferase and alkaline phosphatase). Increasing doses of ethanol extract reduced plasma ALP levels. On the contrary, all doses of the extract increased plasma AST and ALT levels. Ethanol extract did not show any significant hepatoprotective activity at 250 and 500 mg/kg doses, whereas a weak activity was observed at 750 mg/kg. On the other hand, at all the tested doses, ethanol extract caused improvement in antioxidant defense potential (liver glutathione, catalase levels). Moreover, total phenolic content of A. biebersteinii was found to be 6.21 ±0.004 mg gallic acid equivalent/g extract.

Key Words :
Achillea biebersteinii, Lipid peroxidation, Serum enzymes, Glutathione, Catalase