Hepatoprotective Activity of Cichorium intybus L. Leaves Extract Against Carbon Tetrachloride Induced Toxicity

The effects of different concentrations of the hydroalcoholic extract of dried powderedleaves of cichorium intybus l., on ccl4-induced hepatotoxicity in vivo in rats and cci4inducedcytotoxicity in isolated rat hepatocytes were investigated. rats received differentconcentrations of the extract by i.p. injection for 3 consecutive days before the injection of(3ml/kg) ccl4 (i.p.). twenty four h after ccl4 injection the animals were sacrificed and thelivers were dissected for biochemical and histopathological studies. the results showed thatthe cichorium intybus extract could protect the liver from ccl4-induced damages with doses of50 and 100 mg/kg, but concentrations higher than 200 mg/kg were less effective. for in vitrostudies, the extract were added to the suspension of freshly isolated rat hepatocytes incubatedin krebs-henseleit buffer under a gas flow of 95% o2 and 5% co2, 20 minutes before theaddition of 10 mm of cci4. the extract with concentrations of 60 to 600 ug iml protected thecells against cckinduced cytotoxicity, but concentrations of 2: 1.5 mg/m1 and higher increasedthe cc14-induced cytotoxicity. the cichorium intybus extract itself was toxic towards isolatedhepatocytes in concentrations above 3.6 mg/ml. the results of the present study thereforesupported the traditional believes on hepatoprotective effect of the cichorium intybus extract,however, high concentrations were hepatotoxic.