Pharmacological influences of natural products as bioenhancers of silymarin against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in rats

Abstract

Background: Popularity of herbal remedies is increasing day by day despite the presence of synthetic drugs to treat the Liver Diseases owing to the adverse effects and high cost of synthetic drugs. Silymarin has tremendous potential for the treatment of various liver disorders because of its high antioxidant potential as liver diseases are associated with increased oxidative stress. The low oral bioavailability of Silymarin continues to be a major challenge in the development of its formulations having clinical efficacy. Our idea was to constitute a pharmaceutical composition of Silymarin with natural products as bioenhancers that might work positively and synergistically in the control of hepatotoxicity. Methods: In this work, various combinations of Silymarin with natural bioenhancers such as Lysergol (L), Piperine (P) and Fulvic acid (FA) were prepared and their hepatoprotective activities were evaluated against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced hepatotoxicity in animal model. Results: Although, all the combinations decreased the liver enzymes and changed protein level significantly, group G (silymarin:FA (1:1) + P (10%) was found to be most significant as compared to the toxic control. It also displayed better protection when compared to the marketed tablet containing silymarin alone. None of the combinations showed any signs of cytotoxicity when screened on MCF-7 cells by MTT assay. Conclusions: Group G (silymarin:FA (1:1) + P (10%) appeared to be the most effective combination in treating the liver diseases envisaging an industrially viable product of Silymarin as a contemporary therapeutic agent with enhanced bioavailability and medicinal value. Further this combination can be examined for safety and efficacy in clinical studies.