preventive effect of tabernaemontana divaricata against paracetamol-induced acute liver toxicity in rats through an anti-inflammatory mechanism

Liver disorders pose a remarkable global health challenge, leading to roughly two million deaths annually. current research has focused on medicinal plants, particularly tabernaemontana divaricata (td), a plant used in ayurvedic and siddha medicine, for treating liver ailments.  this study investigated td extract’s protective effects against paracetamol-induced acute liver toxicity in rats. rats received td extract (200 or 400 mg/kg) orally for seven days, with silymarin (50 mg/kg) as the standard drug. on the seventh day, all groups except the control received a single paracetamol dose (2000 mg/kg) to induce liver toxicity. hepatoprotective effects were determined by measuring serum liver biomarkers (total bilirubin, sgpt, sgot, alp, and total protein), assessing levels of antioxidant enzymes (gsh, sod, cat, and mda), and quantifying inflammatory cytokines (il-1, il-6, and tnf-α). further, histopathological alterations in the liver tissue were investigated. results revealed that pre-treatment with td extract contributed to a significant decrease in serum levels of liver biomarker and inflammatory cytokines in the paracetamol-treated disease control group, which was then verified by rt-pcr and western blot analysis. in a similar fashion, the tissue-based antioxidant enzymes levels were considerably restored towards normal after treatment with td in the paracetamol-intoxicated rats. in addition, histopathological analysis showed that treatment with td successfully restored liver architecture by lowering the necrotic area and inflammatory cell infiltration, consequently alleviating paracetamol-induced liver damage. in conclusion, this study indicates that td extract dramatically mitigates paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity in rats by enhancing liver enzyme profiles and lowering liver necrosis, possibly through its anti-inflammatory mechanisms.