Res Commun Mol Pathol Pharmacol. 2001 Jul-Aug; 110(1-2): 73-85.

Hepatoprotective ability of a novel botanical formulation on mild liver injury in rats produced by acute acetaminophen and/or alcohol ingestion.

Echard BW, Talpur NA, Fan AY, Bagchi D, Preuss HG.

Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007, USA.

Medicinal herbs have been used for centuries in an attempt to overcome hepatic dysfunctions emanating from ingestion of hepatotoxic substances. However, the vast majority of information concerning their use is anecdotal. Well-performed animal studies would lend credence to the concept that some medicinal herbs may prevent or, at least ameliorate, hepatic dysfunction arising from drug-induced toxicity. The present investigation examined the potential for a combination of medicinal herbs to favorably influence the course of mild/moderate acute hepatic injury induced in rats by the oral intake of acetaminophen and/or ethyl alcohol. We performed four separate studies using elevations of liver enzymes [aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT)] as our primary biomarkers of hepatotoxicity. In the first study, the ability of orally administered acetaminophen at different doses to produce acute hepatotoxicity was examined. In the second and third studies, the ability of a combination of medicinal herbs (a novel botanical formulation) was assessed to ameliorate the acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity. In the last series of studies, we used acute alcohol ingestion to cause liver perturbations and examined the ability of medicinal herbs to overcome hepatotoxicity. We also evaluated the ability of the medicinal herb combination to overcome acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in rats simultaneously challenged with ethyl alcohol ingestion. Hepatotoxicity, estimated by increased levels of AST and ALT, was produced by a 2.0 mg/Kg oral dose of acetaminophen but not by lesser doses. Treatment with a combination of medicinal herbs (a novel botanical formulation) significantly ameliorated acetaminophen-induced toxic response. The combination of medicinal herbs also decreased the hepatic toxicity produced by acute ethyl alcohol ingestion. We conclude that oral ingestion of a novel botanical formulation (a combination of medicinal herbs) is effective in lessening drug-induced hepatotoxicity produced by acetaminophen and/or ethyl alcohol in an animal model.