An in vivo and in silico evaluation of the magical hepatoprotective potentialities of Gynura procumbens: a promising agent for combating hepatotoxicity

Introduction Liver being the most important metabolic organ of the body performs a wide variety of vital functions. Hepatic cell injury occurs by the activation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by CCl₄, xenobiotics and other toxic substances generated through cytochrome P450 dependent step resulting from covalent bond formation with lipoproteins and nucleic acids. Observing the alarming state of hepatotoxic patients worldwide, different medicinal plants and their properties can be explored to combat against such free radical degermation of liver. This paper evaluates the antioxidant property of Gynura procumbens in both in silico and in an in vivo assay, and its hepatoprotective activity in CCl₄ induced hepatotoxicity.

Materials and Methods Gynura procumbens leaves were collected and extracted using 50% ethanol. Required chemicals (CCl₄), standard drug (Silymarin) and blood serum analyzing kits were stocked. The in vivo tests were performed in 140 healthy Wister albino male rats under well controlled parameters dividing into 14 groups, strictly maintaining IEAC protocols. In silico molecular docking and ADMET studies were performed and the results were analyzed statistically.

Results and discussion The body weight increased significantly in CCl₄ induced, G. procumbens administered hepatotoxic rats. The increase in SGPT, SGOT, ALP, creatinine, LFH, triglycerides, LDL, SOD, MDA, total cholesterol, DNA fragmentation ranges, γGT levels of CCl₄ treated group was decreased by both standard drug Silymarin and G. procumbens leaf extract. On the other hand, G. procumbens increased HDL levels and displayed contrasting results in CAT level tests. Some results contradicted with the negative controlled group displaying varying efficacy between leaf extract and Silymarin. In the molecular docking analysis, G. procumbens phytoconstituents performed poorly against TGF-β1 compared to the control drug Galunisertib while 26 phytoconstituents scored better than the control, bezafibrate against PPAR-α. Flavonoids and phenolic compounds performed better than other constituents in providing hepatoprotective activity.