Objectives: This study was conducted to determine the effect of ethanolic extract of the dried stems of Tinospora crispa in a male rat model of hepatic fibrosis caused by the hepatotoxin, thioacetamide.
Materials and methods: The extract was gavaged daily to the rats, at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg along with thioacetamide at a dose of 200 mg/kg twice weekly. To assess the effectivity of extract, against thioacetamide, the activity of aminotransferases (alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase), alkaline phosphatase (AP); and bilirubin were measured, together with morphological and histopathological indices in the liver of healthy and thioacetamide-treated rats.
Results: A significant increase in the activity of liver enzymes, bilirubin and G-glutamyl transferase and gross and histopathological changes were determined. Although previous in vitro study established that this extract had strong antioxidant activity, this in vivo study establishes that this extract contains hepatotoxins whose identity may be quite different from those compounds with antioxidant properties.
Conclusion: The study confirms that complete reliance on data obtained using in vitro methodologies may lead to erroneous conclusions pertaining to the safety of phytopharmaceuticals.
Keywords: Antioxidant; Tinospora crispa; ethanol extract; liver cirrhosis; traditional medicine.