Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory and hepatoprotective activities of Persicaria maculosa (linn.) and its active principle i.e tannic acid against Carbon tetrachloride induced oxidative stress and hepatotoxicity in wistar rats

Persicaria maculosa (linn.) contains antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities, although its protective effects in liver cells are debatable. The effect of Persicaria maculosa (PM) and its active principle, tannic acid (TA), aqueous extracts on carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in rats was investigated in this work. Forty-two male Wistar rats were divided into seven groups: group-I act as Normal group), group-II (Toxicant group CCl 1.5ml/kg i.p), group-III Standard group which pre-treated with silymarin (100mg/kg/day), groups-IV & V which were pretreated with PM aqueous extracts at a dosage of 200 & 400 mg/kg/day o.p, followed by CCl groups-VI & VII which were pretreated with aqueous extracts of TA at doses of 200 & 400 mg/kg/day o.p followed by CClrespectively. After 14 days, liver enzymes such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bilirubin (BIL), and also oxidative stress biomarkers including lipid peroxidation (LPO), in vitro antioxidant activity were measured by 2,2′- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl DPMH. Quantitative determination of some vital phytochemicals, and the histopathological changes were determined using standard procedure. The findings showed that CCl caused a remarkable rise in levels of serum hepatic enzymes such as ALT, AST, ALP and BIL (P≤0.001) compared with the control group. In addition, CCl led to the increasing of LPO (P≤0.001) in liver tissue in comparison with the control group. Rats pretreated with silymarin significantly reduced the adverse effects of CCl on serum and tissue markers. In this regard, remarkable vascular congestion, hepatocellular degeneration, and vacuolization were observed in hepatic tissue of CCl-treated rats. The pre-treatment of Persicaria maculosa and tannic acid aqueous extracts shows a significant improvement was observed in the functional and oxidative stress indices of hepatic tissue alongside histopathology changes.The current investigation found that Persicaria maculosa and its active ingredient Tannic acid aqueous extracts may help to reduce hepatic oxidative injury in rats exposed to CCl by enhancing the oxidant/antioxidant balance.