Hepatoprotective potential of selected medicinally important herbs: evidence from ethnomedicinal, toxicological and pharmacological evaluations

Medicinal herbs are nature’s gift to humanity, contributing crucially to the preservation, maintenance and improvement of our health. In order to explore the hepatoprotective potential of prevalent medicinal plants, nine species were selected from different genera based on their ethnomedicinal records in treating different liver-related pathological conditions in South Asia. Besides, the available information was critically analyzed to gain new insights and directions for future investigations towards establishing such natural products as potent hepatoprotective agents or dietary supplements. The hepatoprotective activities of the species have been investigated in a wide variety of in vivo experimental models including carbon tetrachloride-, paracetamol-, iron-, mercuric chloride-, thioacetamide-, cyclophosphamide-, β- d -galactosamine-, cumene hydroperoxide-, α-naphthyl-isothiocyanate-, physical stress- and alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity in rats and mice. All the plants were consistent in their ability to possess hepatoprotective properties. As well, three bioactive isolates namely, schaftoside, echinocystic acid, and eclalbasaponin II were found to have promising hepatoprotective potential. However, extensive comparative studies are warranted in future to establish the relative hepatoprotective potentials of the nine species under discussion. Preparation of poly-herbal formulations from these plants and identification of hepatoprotective phytoconstituents from these plants might open up new avenues in the development of therapeutic hepatoprotective agents.