Background: The purpose of this study was to isolate and identify the active components from F. carica leaves which are responsible for hepatoprotective activity.
Methods: This study was designed to identify the most active hepatoprotective sub-fractions from the ethyl acetate fraction of Ficus carica in an in vitro study and evaluate their in vivo hepatoprotective effect in an animal model. The ethyl acetate fraction was studied in a column, and a total of eight sub-fractions were obtained. The in vitro hepatoprotective effect of all the sub-fractions was determined on HepG2 cell lines. Toxicity was induced by CCl4 (Carbon tetrachloride), and silymarin was used as the positive control. Using the results, the most active sub-fraction was subjected to LC-MS and FT-IR analyses for the identification of bioactive compounds. The in vivo hepatoprotective effect was determined in mice. Toxicity was induced by CCl4 at the end of the experiment; the biochemical parameters, such as ALT, AST, ALP, bilirubin and total protein, were estimated in the sera. The histopathology of the liver tissues was also performed.
Results: The sub-fraction FVI exhibited more significant (P<0.05) hepatoprotective activity as compared to those of the other sub-fractions, which was almost similar to the standard drug silymarin. Six known bioactive compounds were identified from this sub-fraction after LC-MS analysis. The in vivo hepatoprotective activity of sub-fraction FVI was evaluated in the CCl4-intoxicated mice. The administration of CCl4 significantly increased the levels of ALT (Alanine transaminase), AST (Aspartate aminotransferase), ALP (Alkaline phosphatase) and bilirubin and decreased the total protein content. The treatment with the sub-fraction FVI significantly (p<0.05) reversed the level of these biomarkers toward a normal state at both the doses of 25 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg.
Conclusion: Our findings confirmed the hepatoprotective effect of the ethyl acetate fraction of F. carica. This could be a good candidate for the development of a natural hepatoprotective drug; the pre-clinical investigation of the ethyl acetate fraction is recommended.
