Assessment of hepatoprotective activity of Achillea collina J. Becker ex Reichenb. lipophilic extract

Abstract

The aim of the study – to evaluate the specific hepatoprotective activity of lipophilic extract of Achillea collina J. Becker ex Reichenb. (LEHG) under the model of chronic alcoholic hepatitis (CAH). The specific hepatoprotective activity of LEHG was assessed in experiments on 40 laboratory rats of both sexes. The determination of the specific hepatoprotective activity of the studied extracts was carried out under the model of CAH, which was induced by daily intragastric administration of 20% ethanol at a dose of 8 g/kg for 60 days. After ethanol administration, for the following 30 days, the tested LEHG (20 mg/kg by quercetin) and the reference drug Hepabene (100 mg/kg) were administered daily intragastrically using a metal probe. The hepatoprotective activity of LEHG was evaluated based on the reduction of biochemical markers – bilirubin level, transaminase activity (ALT, AST) in blood serum – and the reduction of thiopental sleep duration in experimental animals. The normality of distribution was assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Data are presented as mean values. The significance of differences between mean values was determined using Student’s t-test for normally distributed data. In cases of non-normal distribution or when analyzing ordinal variables, the Mann-Whitney U test was applied. Experimental studies showed that the tested lipophilic extract at a dose of 20 mg/kg positively affects liver function, improves its detoxification capacity, and is not inferior to the reference drug Hepabene in such indicators as the reduction of ALT (25.7%) and AST (23.5%) levels, as well as the duration of thiopental sleep (by 12.6%) compared with the control group. Considering the experimentally proven specific hepatoprotective activity of the LEHG, further investigation of this plant material is important for the development of new promising medicinal products.