In Vitro and In Vivo Hepatoprotective Evaluation of A Bioactive Fraction of Euphorbia Fusiformis Against Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Hepatic Injury

Abstract

Background: Euphorbia fusiformis has ethnomedicinal relevance in liver disorders, and published work has demonstrated hepatoprotective activity of its tuber extract. The present study evaluates a bioactive fraction using complementary HepG2 and Wistar-rat models of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced injury. Methods: HepG2 cells were exposed to CCl4 and treated with n-butanol, aqueous or chloroform fractions (50-200 µg/mL); silymarin served as reference. Cell viability was assessed by MTT assay. Acute oral toxicity was examined over 5-2000 mg/kg. In vivo hepatoprotection was evaluated in male Wistar rats by serum ALT, AST and total bilirubin after CCl4 challenge, with test extract at 50 and 100 mg/kg and silymarin at 100 mg/kg. Results: CCl4 reduced HepG2 viability to 53.06%. The n-butanol fraction showed the strongest source-reported protection, with 94.42%, 92.00% and 97.701% viability at 50, 100 and 200 µg/mL, respectively. No overt toxicity signs were reported up to 2000 mg/kg. In rats, CCl4 increased ALT, AST and bilirubin to 110.36±1.13 U/L, 86.56±2.41 U/L and 1.51±1.36 mg/dL. Test extract at 100 mg/kg reduced these values to 51.89±1.79 U/L, 47.56±2.12 U/L and 0.59±1.74 mg/dL, approaching the silymarin group. Conclusion: The investigated fraction demonstrated substantial protection against CCl4-associated hepatic injury.