Protective Effect of Leaves of Ficus carica Against Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Hepatic Damage in Rats

UK Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biosciences Vol. 5(1), 06-11, 2017 RESEARCH ARTICLE
Protective Effect of Leaves of Ficus carica Against Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced
Hepatic Damage in Rats
Manik Sharma1
, Abid R1*
, Younus Ahmad2
, Nelofar Ghulam Nabi3
1
Department of Zoology, Bhoj Mahavidyalaya, Bhopal (M.P.)-462016, India
2
S.S.L. Jain College, Vidisha, (M.P.)-464001, India
3
Govt. Maharani Laxmi Bai Girls' P.G. (Autonomous) College, Bhopal (M.P.)-462002, India
Article Information
Received 15 November 2016
Received in revised form 25 Jan 2017
Accepted 26 Jan 2017
Abstract
Fig leaves (Ficus carica Linn.) belonged to the family Moraceae and used as a source of
medicines for the ailment of diseases. The present study was conducted to evaluate the
hepatoprotective activity against the carbon tetrachloride induced toxic chemical in rats. The
petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and methanol extract of Ficus carica leaves was prepared, and
evaluated for phytochemical screening. The serum level of glutamic oxaloacetate
transaminase (SGOT), glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT) and bilirubin were investigated
for the assessment of hepatoprotective activity of ethyl acetate extract. Additionally, the
histological changes in liver were observed. Preliminary phytochemical investigations of the
extracts of leaves of Ficus carica revealed the presence of flavonoids, tannins, phenolic
compounds, alkaloids, glycosides, fats and carbohydrates. Pre-treatment with ethyl acetate
extract of Ficus carica led to significant (p<0.05) decrease in serum SGOT, SGPT and
bilirubin when compared to control group rats treated CCl4 in dose-dependent manner. The
outcomes of histological study revealed that there was significant reversal of histological
functional of liver. In conclusion, the findings of this study validated that the Ficus carica can
improve CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity.
Keywords:
Ficus carica,
Liver,
Hepatoprotective activity,
Carbon Tetrachloride
Corresponding Author:
E-mail : abidwani099@gmail.com
Mob.: +919419740455
1 Introduction
Liver regulates various important metabolic functions. Hepatic
damage is associated with distortion of these metabolic
functions
1
. Liver has a wide range of functions, including
detoxification, plasma protein synthesis and production of
biochemicals necessary for digestion. Damage to the liver
inflicted by hepatotoxic agents is of grave consequence. Today,
liver damage is one of very common aliment in the world
resulting serious debilities ranging from severe metabolic
disorders to even motility
2
. Liver functions as a centre of
metabolism of nutrients such as carbohydrate, proteins and
lipids and excretion of waste metabolites. Additionally, it also
handles the metabolism and excretion of drugs and other
xenobiotics from the body there by providing protection against
foreign substances by detoxifying and eliminating them
3
. Liver
cells possess the antioxidant defense system consisting of
antioxidants such as GSH, ascorbic acid, and vitamin E and
antioxidant enzymes such as SOD, catalase, and GPx to
protect own cells against oxidative stress, which causes
destruction of cell components and cell death
4
. Hepatocytes,
which make up the majority of the liver structure, are very active
in the metabolism of exogenous chemicals, and this is one of
the major reasons why the liver is a target for toxic substances
5
.
Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is one of the most commonly used
hepatotoxins in the experimental study of liver diseases. The
hepatoprotective effect of CCl4 is largely due to its active
metabolite, trichloromethyl radical. The administration of CCl4 in
rats enhances hepatic protein oxidation and results in the
accumulation of CCl4 oxidized proteins in the liver
6
.
Unfortunately, conventional or synthetic drugs used in the
treatment of liver disease are inadequate and sometimes can
have serious side effects. This is one of the reason for many
UK Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biosciences
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Abid et al., Protective effect of leaves of Ficus carica against carbon tetrachloride
UK J Pharm & Biosci, 2017: 5(1); 7
people in the world over including those in developed countries
turning complementary and alternative medicine. Many
traditional remedies employ herbal drugs for the treatment of
liver ailments
7
. In the absence of a reliable liver protecting drug
in modern medicine there are a number of medicinal
preparations in Ayurveda recommended for the treatment of
liver disorders
8
.
Ficus carica (commonly known as Fig / Anjeer) constituted one
of the largest genera of medicinal plants with about 750 species
of woody plants, trees, and shrubs primarily occurring in
subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. The
genus is remarkable for the large variation in the habits of its
species
9
. The genus Ficus (Moraceae) was first published in
Systema Naturae by Carolus Linnaeus in 1735. Ficus is one of
the largest genus among angiosperms. Among the genera of
seed plants it ranked as the twenty-first
10
. It is a small or
moderate sized deciduous tree, 3-10 m high with broad ovate or
nearly orbicular leaves, more or less deeply 3-5 lobed, rough
above and pubescent below; fruits axillary, usually pear shaped,
variable in size and colour. The fruit of Ficus carica like those of
other species of Ficus, is a syconium a fleshy hollow receptacle
with a narrow aperture at the tip. The bark is a cylindrical and
pale grey coloured
11
. The plant leaves reported to contain
furanocoumarins such as psoralen, bergapten, xantho toxin
12
,
triterpenes such as calotropenyl acetate, lupeol acetate
13
,
isoschaftoside
14
and certain sterols. Ficus carica leaves have
been traditionally used in the treatment of vitiligo, diabetes,
coughs, asthma, constipation and gingivitis
15
. The other
reported pharmacological activities of fig leaves include
cytotoxic
16
, hypoglycemic
17
and anthelmintic activity
18
. Since
free radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory activities are
crucial factors in management of liver damage, so this plant is
suggested to be an efficient hepatoprotective agent. In our
study, the fruit extract was tested for hepatoprotective activity
against liver damage induced by acetaminophen in rats.
Assessment of liver function was performed by determination of
its specific serum markers as well as oxidative stress. The
present study investigates the hepatoprotective activity of the
Ficus carica leaves against CCl4-induced toxicity in rats as the
animal model.
2 Materials and Methods
2.1 Preparation of plant material
The leaves of the plant of Ficus carica were collected from the
local surroundings at Kunzer area of Baramulla, Jammu and
Kashmir during the month of August and September 2014. The
plant was authenticated by Dr. Bikrama Singh, Scientist at
taxonomy department Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine
(IIIM-CSIR) Jammu and Kashmir, India. The voucher specimens
(RRL- 22990) are kept in the herbarium of Indian Institute of
Integrative Medicine (IIIM)-CSIR Jammu and Kashmir for future
reference. The fresh leaves of Ficus carica were collected and
washed thoroughly under running tap water. The leaves were
allowed sun dried after rinsed with distilled water. The dried
plant material were coarsely powdered and subjected to
extraction.
2.2 Preparation of extract
The extract was done by maceration using petroleum ether,
ethyl acetate and methanol. The extracts obtained were
evaporated in rotary evaporator to get a powdery mass. The
powder extracts obtained were then subjected to phytochemical
analysis to detect the chemical constituents present in each
extracts
19
.
2.3 Animals
Male Wistar rats (135-180 g) were used for evaluation of
hepatoprotective activity. The animals were housed in
polypropylene cages at 25 °C ±1 °C with the relative humidity of
55 ± 5% under 12 h/12 h light/dark cycle. They were received a
standard chow and water ad libitum during experimentation.
The food was with-drawn on the day before the experiment, but
free access of water was allowed. A minimum of six animals
was used in each group. Throughout the experiments, animals
were processed according to the suggested international ethical
guidelines for the care of laboratory animals. The study protocol
was approved by the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee
according to the regulation of Committee for the Purpose of
Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals.
2.4 CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity
Assessment of hepatoprotective activity was carried out on
wistar albino rats. The animals were segregated into four
groups of six animals each. Group I served as normal control
receiving 5% CMC (10 ml/kg). Group II received CCl4 (1ml /kg
i.p.) with equal volume of olive oil (50% v/v) for two successive
days, and were maintained as CCl4 group. Group III animals
were animals were treated orally for seven days with
suspension of ethyl acetate extract (100 mg/kg). Group IV
animals were treated with CCl4 and ethyl acetate extract (100
mg/kg). After the treatment, the blood samples were collected
via retro orbital, and serum was separated by centrifugation at
2500 rpm for 15 min, used for the estimation of biochemical
marker enzymes. After collecting the blood, the liver were
separated, and weighed
20-22
.
2.5 Biochemical determination
Biochemical parameters such as serum glutamate oxaloacetate
transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase
(SGPT) and serum bilirubin were determined
23,24
.
2.6 Histopathology
Liver were excised quickly fixed in 10% buffered neutral
formalin and proceeded for histopathology, they were
processed for paraffin embedding following the standard

microtechnique. Sections of liver stained with alum-
haematoxylin and eosin were observed microscopically for
histopathological changes. A few photomicrographs of
representative types were also taken
25
.
2.7 Statistical analysis
The results are expressed as mean ± SEM of six animals from
each group. The data were evaluated by one-way ANOVA
followed by Turkey’s multiple comparison tests. P values <0.05
were considered statistically significant.
3 Results and Discussions
3.1 Phytochemical screening of Ficus carica
Presence of classes of secondary metabolite may be a useful
indicator of both efficacy and potential toxicity; hence test for the
presence of phytochemical classes with known bioactivity was
done.
Preliminary phytochemical investigations of the extracts of
leaves of Ficus carica revealed the presence of flavonoids,
tannins, phenolic compounds, alkaloids, glycosides, fats and
carbohydrates. From the result of phytochemical screening, the
petroleum ether extract of leaves of Ficus carica exhibited the
presence of fats and oils. The ethyl acetate extract revealed the
occurrence of alkaloids, flavonoids and glycosides. Alkaloids,
glycosides, carbohydrates, flavonoids, tannins and polyphenol
were found in methanol extracts of leaves of Ficus carica.
3.2 Hepatoprotective activity of Ficus carica
Hepatoprotective activity of ethyl acetate extracts at the dose of
100 mg/kg body weight were determined in CC14 induced
hepatotoxicity model. The rats treated with CCl4, developed
significantly liver damage, were observed from the alteration in
the activities of serum enzyme namely SGOT, SGPT and total
bilirubin in serum (Table 1). The level of values of the SGOT,
SGPT and total bilirubin were significantly increased in the CCl4
treated rats as compared with the normal control group
(P<0.05).
Table 1: Effect of ethyl acetate extract of Ficus carica on CCL4 induced hepatotoxicity
Groups
Bilirubin (mg/100
ml of blood)
SGOT (U/L) SGPT (U/L) Liver (gm)
Normal Control CMC
10ml/kg
0.81±0.06 58.24±2.71 135.12±3.41 5.12±0.15
Control (CCl4 1ml/kg i.p) 3.41±0.02
a
243.18±6.04
a
384.56±5.98
a
8.26±1.02
Ethyl acetate extract (100
mg/kg oral)
0.76±0.07 63.47±3.42 145.17±4.23 6.72±0.63
Ethyl acetate extract (100
mg/kg oral) + CCl4 (1ml/kg i.p)
0.89±0.14
b
60.29±5.36
b
151.73±4.92
b
5.89±0.78
Values are expressed as mean  SEM, n = 6 in each group. a
P<0.05 when compared with normal control group,
b
P<0.05 when compared with CCl4 treated group
Treatment with ethyl acetate extracts of Ficus carica at the dose
(100 mg/kg) decreased the activity of SGOT, SGPT and total
bilirubin in CCl4 induced liver damaged rats compared to that of
CCl4 treated groups (P<0.05). It was found that the test
samples offer protection against toxin as evidenced by
remarkable reduction in all serum enzyme (P<0.05), and
depicted that ethyl acetate extract has strong hepatoprotective
action. Further the rats treated only with ethyl acetate extracts
of Ficus carica exhibited no significant changes in level of
SGOT, SGPT and total bilirubin compared to normal group
(Table 1). The increase in weight of liver of CCl4 treated group
was observed, and it indicates the fatty liver due toxic effect of
CCl4. The extract treated group demonstrated reduction in liver
weight, and confirming the protective effect of extract (Table 1).
In the assessment of liver damage by CCl4 hepatoxin, the
determination of enzyme level such as SGPT and SGOT are
largely used. Necrosis or membrane damage release the
enzyme in to circulation, therefore it can be measured in serum.
Higher level of SGOT indicates the liver damage, due to active
metabolite trichloromethyl free radical produced from carbon
tetrachloride during metabolism by hepatic microsomes which in
turn cause peroxidation of lipid of cellular membrane. SGPT
catalyses the conversion of alanine to pyruvate and glutamate
and is released in similar manner. Therefore SGPT is more
specific to the liver, and is thus a better parameter for detecting
liver injury
23,24
. Our results using the model of CCl4-induced
hepatotoxicity in the rats demonstrated that ethyl acetate
extracts of Ficus carica caused significant inhibition of SGPT
and SGOT levels. The bilirubin levels on other hand related to
the function of hepatic cells. Increase in serum level of bilirubin
was due to increased synthesis, in presence of increasing
biliary pressure. Our results using the model of CCl4-induced
hepatotoxicity in rats demonstrated that Ficus carica extracts
caused significant inhibition of bilirubin levels. Effective control

of bilirubin level point towards on early improvement in the
secretory mechanism of the hepatic cell
25
.
3.3 Histopathological study
In the histopathological study of liver from group I and group III
animals showed a normal hepatic architecture (Fig 1a & 1c). In
CCl4 causes focal necrosis, portal infiltration, fatty changes,
kupfer cell hyperplasia, hypdropic change. In group IV animals,
the necrosis which is markedly prevented (Fig b). Milder form of
injury like fatty change and reduced necrosis persisted by the
extract (Fig d). The toxin mediated histological changes in the
liver section of rats of test groups were much less intensity than
those observed in the rats of CCl4 treated group.
Fig. 1a: Liver tissue of control rats showing normal
histology
Fig. 1b: Liver tissue of CCl4 treated rats showing necrosis
of the hepatic cells
Histopathological studies showed that CCl4 caused focal
necrosis, portal infiltration, fatty changes, Kupfer’s cells
hyperplasia and hydropic changes of the liver tissue
26
. After
administration of ethyl acetate extracts exhibited protection, this
confirmed the results of biochemical studies.
Based on our experimental findings, Ficus carica leaves has a
protective effect against hepatotoxic CCl4. The hepatoprotective
effects of Ficus carica are likely related to the free radical
scavenging effect, which increases antioxidant activity, against
membrane lipid peroxidation, and protects membrane integrity
and function of liver cells. Further studies are needed to
investigate the molecular mechanism of the hepatoprotective
effect of Ficus carica.
Fig. 1c: Liver tissue of Ficus carica extract (100 mg/kg)
treated rats showing no necrosis
Fig. 1d: Liver tissue of CCl4 + Ficus carica extract (100
mg/kg) treated rats showing necrosis of the hepatic cells is
almost prevented
4 Conclusion
Our study suggested a significant protective effect of Ficus
carica extract against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity. Ficus carica
extract exerts this protection through amelioration of lipid
peroxidation by its scavenging activity of free radicals and
enhancement of the antioxidant defense system.
5 Acknowledgements
Authors are thankful to the Director General MPCST, Bhopal
and Director General Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine
(IIIM-CSIR), JAMMU for supported financially to carry this
research work.

6 Conflict of interests
No conflict of interest among all authors of this work
7 Author’s contribution
Research was designed by MS and AR. AR and YA handled
data analysis, while NGN handled manuscript writing and
revising of content. All authors read and approved the final
copy for publication.
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Protective Effect of Leaves of Ficus carica Against Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Hepatic Damage in Rats

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