Hepatoprotective activity of Gundelia tourenfortii

Gundelia tourenfortii (L.), is used as an occasional food, and its extracts have been used for prevention and treatment of liver diseases in Iran. The effects of different concentrations of the hydroalcoholic extract of dried powdered footstalks of Gundelia tourenfortii were investigated on CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity using in vivo model in rats and isolated rat hepatocytes. Rats received different concentrations of the Gundelia tourenfortii extract by i.p. injection for three consecutive days before the injection of CCl4 (i.p.). After 24 h, they were bled and their livers were dissected for biochemical and histopathological studies. The results showed that the Gundelia tourenfortii extract could protect the liver against CCl4-induced damages with doses of 200 and 300 mg/kg, but concentrations higher than 300 mg/kg were less effective. For in vitro studies, the extract was added to the suspension of freshly isolated rat hepatocytes incubated in Krebs-Henseleit buffer under a flow of 95% O2 and 5% CO2, 20 min before the addition of 10 mM of CCl4. The Gundelia tourenfortii extract with concentrations of 0.2-0.8 mg/ml protected the cells against CCl4-induced cytotoxicity, and its maximum protective effect was about 0.5 mg/ml, but concentrations of 1.0 mg/ml and higher increased the CCl4-induced cytotoxicity. The Gundelia tourenfortii extract itself was toxic towards isolated hepatocytes with concentrations above 1.0 mg/ml. Therefore, the results of the present study support the traditional believes on hepatoprotective effects of Gundelia tourenfortii, however, high concentrations were hepatotoxic.