• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.791-798
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• 2005

The hepatoprotective activity of flavonol glycosides rich fraction (F-2), prepared from 70% alcohol extract of the aerial parts of V calcarata Desf., was evaluated in a rat model with a liver injury induced by daily oral administration of $CCl_4$ (100 mg/kg, b.w) for four weeks. Treatment of the animals with F-2 using a dose of (25 mg/kg, b.w) during the induction of hepatic damage by $CCl_4$ significantly reduced the indices of liver injuries. The hepatoprotective effects of F-2 significantly reduced the elevated levels of the following serum enzymes: alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). The antioxidant activity of F-2 markedly ameliorated the antioxidant parameters including glutathione (GSH) content, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), plasma catalase (CAT) and packed erythrocytes glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) to be comparable with normal control levels. In addition, it normalized liver malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and creatinine concentration. Chromatographic purification of F-2 resulted in the isolation of two flavonol glycosides that rarely occur in the plant kingdom, identified as quercetin-3,5-di-O-$\beta$-D-diglucoside (5) and kaempferol-3,5-di-O-$\beta$-D-diglucoside (4) in addition to the three known compounds identified as quercetin-3-O-$\alpha$-L-rhamnosyl- (${\rightarrow}6$)-$\beta$-D-glucoside [rutin, 3], quercetin-3-O-$\beta$-D-glucoside [isoquercitrin, 2] and kaempferol-3-O-$\beta$-D-glucoside [astragalin, 1]. These compounds were identified based on interpretation of their physical, chemical, and spectral data. Moreover, the spectrophotometric estimation of the flavonoids content revealed that the aerial parts of the plant contain an appreciable amount of flavonoids (0.89%) calculated as rutin. The data obtained from this study revealed that the flavonol glycosides of F-2 protect the rat liver from hepatic damage induced by $CCl_4$ through inhibition of lipid peroxidation caused by $CCl_4$ reactive free radicals.