Protective role of Phyllanthus niruri against nimesulide induced hepatic damage

Present study aimed to evaluate the protective role of the aqueous extract of Phyllanthus niruri (P. niruri) against nimesulide-induced hepatic disorder in mice by determining levels of glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in serum and also by measuring the hepatic content of the antioxidant enzymes, superoxide dismitase (SOD) and catalase (CAT); the free radical scavenger, reduced glutathione (GSH) and thiobarbituric acid reacting substances (TBARS). Aqueous extract of P. niruri was administered either orally or intraperitoneally in different doses and times as needed for the experiments. Intraperitoneal pretreatment of the extract (100 mg/kg body weight for seven days) reduced nimesulide (750 mg/kg body weight for 3 days) induced increased levels of GOT (37.0 ± 1.8 units/ml in control group vs. 91.8 ± 2.0 units/ml in nimesulide treated group vs. 35.0 ± 1.0 units/ml in extract treated group), GPT (30.0 ± 2.1 units/ml in control group vs. 88.4 ± 2.9 units/ml in nimesulide treated group vs. 34.1 ± 1.8 units/ml in extract treated group), and ALP (7.86 ± 0.47 KA units /ml in control group vs. 23.80 ± 0.60 KA units /ml in nimesulide treated group vs. 7.30 ± 0.40 KA units/ml in extract treated group) to almost normal. In addition, P. niruri restored the nimesulide induced alterations of hepatic SOD (550 ± 20 units/mg total protein in control group vs. 310 ± 13 units/mg total protein in nimesulide treated group vs. 515 ± 10 units/mg total protein in extract treated group), CAT (99.5 ± 2 units/mg total protein in control group vs. 25.0 ± 1.5 units/mg total protein in nimesulide treated group vs. 81.0 ± 0.8 units/mg total protein in extract treated group), GSH (90 ± 3 nmoles/mg total protein in control group vs. 17 ± 4.2 nmoles/mg total protein in nimesulide treated group vs. 81 ± 1 nmoles/mg total protein in extract treated group) and TBARS (measured as MDA, 36.6 ± 3.0 nmoles/g liver tissue in control group vs. 96.3 ± 5.2 nmoles/g liver tissue in nimesulide treated group vs. 41.2 ± 1.7 nmoles/g liver tissue in extract treated group) contents. Dose-dependent studies showed that the herb could protect liver even if the nimesulide-induced injury is severe. Intraperitoneal administration of the extract showed better protective effect than oral administration. Combining all, the data suggest that P. niruri possesses hepatoprotective activity against nimesulide-induced liver toxicity and probably acts via an antioxidant defense mechanism. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of the hepatoprotective action of P. niruri against nimesulide induced liver damage.