Natural Product Research

Formerly Natural Product Letters

ISSN: 1478-6419 (Print) 1478-6427 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gnpl20

Hepatoprotective constituents of Torilis radiata

Moench (Apiaceae)

Shahira M. Ezzat , Hossam M. Abdallah , Ghada A. Fawzy & Shohda A. El-

Maraghy

To cite this article: Shahira M. Ezzat , Hossam M. Abdallah , Ghada A. Fawzy & Shohda A. El-
Maraghy (2012) Hepatoprotective constituents of Torilis radiata Moench (Apiaceae), Natural
Product Research, 26:3, 282-285, DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2011.587422

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2011.587422

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Published online: 26 Aug 2011.

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 Natural Product Research
Vol. 26, No. 3, February 2012, 282–285

SHORT COMMUNICATION
Hepatoprotective constituents of Torilis radiata Moench (Apiaceae)
Shahira M. Ezzata*, Hossam M. Abdallahb, Ghada A. Fawzyc and
Shohda A. El-Maraghyd
a
Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo 11562, Egypt;
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b
Department of Natural Products, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589,
Saudi Arabia; cDepartment of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Saud University,
Riyadh 22452, Saudi Arabia; dDepartment of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University,
Cairo 11562, Egypt
(Received 8 February 2011; final version received 15 April 2011)

An investigation of the aqueous ethanolic extract (AE) of the aerial parts of

Torilis radiata Moench yielded two triterpenes (lupeol acetate (1) and -amyrin
(2)), a sterol (spinasterol (3)) from its n-hexane fraction (HF), a flavone (acacetin
(4)), a coumarin (scopoletin (5)), a phenolic acid (ferulic acid (6)) from the
chloroform fraction (CF) and a flavone glycoside (luteolin-7-O-glucoside (7))
from the n-butanol fraction (BF). The hepatoprotection of the AE and its
fractions was assessed in terms of the reduction in histological damage,
accompanied by restoration of the liver enzymes (alanine amino transferase
(ALT), aspartate amino transferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)), a
reduction in the inflammatory markers (tumour necrosis- (TNF- ), nitric oxide
(NO), N-acetyl- -D-glucosaminidase (NAG) and myloperoxidase (MPO) in
serum) and restoration of the oxidant balance by decreasing the serum and
hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, along with increasing the activity of
hepatic catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) and the non-enzymatic
antioxidant glutathione (GSH).
Keywords: antioxidant; anti-inflammatory; hepatoprotective; Torilis radiata

1. Introduction
Liver disorders are considered one of the most life-threatening conditions in develop-
ing countries, including Egypt. The liver is involved in wide range of functions and
hence it can be exposed to toxins and drugs, as well as viral hepatitis (Nunez, 2006).
Effective cures for liver diseases being relatively few, traditional plant remedies
have been extensively evaluated for their antihepatotoxic activity through in vivo
and in vitro test models. In this respect, and relying on the reported hepatoprotective
efficacy of certain apiaceous plants (Özbek et al., 2003), the potentialities of Torilis radiata
Moench, a member of family Apiaceae wildly growing in Egypt, were assessed. The genus
Torilis is represented in Egypt by five species (Täckholm, 1974). As there is no previous
report on the hepatoprotective activity of T. radiata, it was thus deemed of interest to

*Corresponding author. Email: shahyelkomy@hotmail.com

ISSN 1478–6419 print/ISSN 1478–6427 online

ß 2012 Taylor & Francis
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14786419.2011.587422
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 Natural Product Research 283

assess its biological potential as a hepatoprotective agent, using silymarin as a reference

standard.

2. Results and discussion

AE was subjected to fractionation and isolation of the major compounds which were
identified as lupeol acetate (1), -amyrin (2) and spinasterol (3) (Good & Akisha,
1997); a flavone methyl ether, acacetin (4) (Agrawal & Bansal, 1989); a coumarin,
scopoletin (5) (Murray, Mendez & Brown, 1982) and a phenolic acid, ferulic acid (6)
(Andreasen, Christensen, Meyer, & Hansen, 2000) as well as a flavone glycoside
luteolin-7-O-glucoside (7) (Agrawal & Bansal, 1989). The acute toxicity study of AE
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revealed no mortality up to a dose level of 6.4 g kg 1 b.w. The hepatoprotective activity

of AE and its different fractions was evaluated against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity.
Administration of AE attenuated the increased levels of the serum enzymes (ALT,
AST, LDH), causing a subsequent recovery towards normalization comparable to the
control groups (Table S1). The effect of AE was not significantly different from
Silymarin, (P 5 0.05) a reference group. Histopathology of the liver section
(Supplementary Figure S1 – online only) showed patches of liver cell necrosis with
inflammatory collections around central vein in CCl4-treated rats, whereas the AE-
treated groups showed the absence of cell necrosis, but with minimal inflammatory
conditions around the central vein. The body has an effective defence mechanism to
prevent and neutralise the free radical-induced damage, such as GSH-Px and catalase.
The reduced activities of GSH-Px and catalase point out the hepatic damage in the rats
treated with CCl4, but that treated with AE or its fractions showed significant increase
in the level of these enzymes. Also the elevation of serum hepatic MDA levels
suggested enhanced lipid peroxidation leading to tissue damage and failure of
antioxidant defence mechanisms to prevent the formation of excessive free radicals in
CCl4-treated group. Treatment with different fractions significantly reversed these
changes. Hence, it is possible that the mechanism of hepatoprotection of the whole
plant of T. radiata may be due to its antioxidant activity. Activated neutrophils are
known to induce tissue injury through the production and release of MPO, which is an
index for neutrophil infiltration and was significantly high in CCl4 control group. All
tested fractions, especially AE and CF, significantly (p 5 0.05) decreased MPO activity
and prevented neutrophil infiltration into the damaged tissue. Treatment with AE or its
fractions significantly (p 5 0.05) reduced the hepatic inflammatory response and
nitrosative stress, as evidenced from the reduction of serum TNF- and hepatic NO
levels compared to that of CCl4-treated rats. Administration of AE or its fractions
significantly (p 5 0.05) reduced the serum NAG activity. This effect may be due to the
stabilizing effect of the extract or the fractions on the lysosomal membrane by virtue of
their antioxidant effect that was observed in this study. The hepatoprotective effect of
AE was more potent than any of the tested fractions. This may be attributed mainly to
synergism of different bio-constituents. CF was the most potent one between the
different tested fractions. This may be attributed to its constituents, acacetin (4),
scopoletin (5) and ferulic acid (6). Acacetin was proved to be anti-oxidant and anti-
inflammatory (Pan, Lai, Wang, & Ho, 2006). Ferulic acid has been reported to have
anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities (Ou & Kwok, 2004).
Scopoletin showed anti-inflammatory as well as hepatoprotective and anti-oxidant
activities (Kim et al., 2006).
 284 S.M. Ezzat et al.

O
HO
HO 3
1 2

R2
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H3CO COOH
OR3 H3CO

R1O O HO
HO O O
6
5
OH O

R1 R2 R3
4 H H CH3
6 Glucose OH H

3. Conclusion
The above-mentioned results support the highly potent hepatoprotective, anti-inflamma-
tory and antioxidant activity of AE with no adverse effects.

Supplementary material
Experimental details relating to this article are available online, alongside Tables S1 and S2
and Figure S1.

Acknowledgements
The authors thank Dr Adel Bakeer Kholoussy, Professor of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary
Medicine, Cairo University, for his valuable assistance in the histopathological study.

References

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 Natural Product Research 285

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