Prashant Tiwari. et al / International Journal of Innovative Pharmaceutical Research. 2011,2(2),126-130. 126 ISSN: 0976-4607 Research Article Antihepatotoxic Activity of Euphorbia hirta and by using the combination of Euphorbia hirta and Boerhaavia diffusa Extracts on Some Experimental Models of Liver Injury in Rats Prashant Tiwari 1* , Kuldeep Kumar 2 , Ashish Kumar Pandey 3 , Alok Pandey 3 , and P.K.Sahu 1 1* SOA University, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India. 2 Smt Vidyawati College of Pharmacy, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, India. 3 Institute of pharmacy, RITEE, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. ABSTRACT The antihepatotoxic effect of Euphorbia hirta and Boerhaavia diffusa extracts were evaluated in experimental models of liver injury in rats induced by CCL 4 or paracetamol. Hydroalcoholic extract (HE) from whole plant were tested. The Hepatic dysfunction was accessed by determining different biochemical parameters in serum and tissues. In serum, the activities of enzymes like Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST), Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alkaline phosphate (ALP), Bilirubin were evaluated. Lipid peroxidation and reduced glutathione were also measured into control and treated rats. E.hirta whole plant (HE) showed hepatoprotective activities at doses 125 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg, since serum levels of ALT and AST in rats given the extracts were significantly low (p<0.05 and 0.01 respectively) When compare to control CCL 4 or paracetamol-injured rats. Furthered studies were carried on the HE from the whole part of both the plant by using the combination of the extract showed the highest level of antihepatotoxic activity with the hydroalcoholic extract which was effective at doses 75mg/kg and 150 mg/kg, for hepatoprotective activity in CCL 4 and paracetamol-injured rats. In experiments comparing the comprising the HE (125- 250 and 75- 150 mg/kg) to reference antihepatotoxic substance (silymarin) the HE exhibited a 70 and 80% hepatoprotection compared to the 80 and 90% one exhibited by silymarin in CCL 4 or paracetamol -injured rats respectively. This study demonstrated that hydroalcoholic extract Euphorbia hirta and Boerhaavia diffusa was effective in protecting the liver from toxic hepatitis. Keywords: Antihepatotoxic activity, Euphorbia hirta, Boerhaavia diffusa. INTRODUCTION Euphorbia hirta L. is a medicinal, rhizomatous herb distributed in Southern Western Ghats of India and Northern East Coast of Tamil Nadu (Rahuman, and Gopalakrishnan et al., 2007). In East and West Africa extracts of the plant are used in treatment of asthma and respiratory tract inflammations. It is also used for coughs, chronic bronchitis and other pulmonary disorders in Malagasy. The plant is also widely used in Angola against diarrhoea and dysentery, especially amoebic dysentery. In Nigeria extracts or exudates of the plant are used as ear drops and in the treatment of boils, sore and promoting wound healing (Ogueke and Jude et al., 2007). Boerhaavia diffusa Linn. (Syn. B. repens L.; B. procumbens Roxb; family: Nyc- taginaceae, Sanskrit: *Corrosponding author Prashant Tiwari Email id: ptc_ptc15@rediffmail.com “Punarnava”) is a perennial creeping weed found throughout India. The leaves of B. diffusa are reported for their use in the in- digenous system of medicine for the treatment of dyspepsia, jaundice, enlarge- ment of the spleen and abdominal pain (Kirtikar and Basu, 1956). Boerhaavia diffusa L. is a wild perennial herb which may be encountered in different terrestrial habitats, ranging from managed grasslands, wastelands, agro-ecosystems to large forest gaps. The species of Boerhaavia (‘Punarnava’) have been in use for medicinal purpose in different parts of India (ICMR 1976). The whole plant, preferably the root, is effectively used to cure several diseases including jaundice (Bajpay 1993; Srivastava & Padhya 1995). In the present communication, an attempt has been made to validate the folklore use of this plant as hepatoprotective against experimentally produced liver injury. Experimentally, most of the properties reported, but no report so far has been done on the antihepatoxic International Journal of Innovative Pharmaceutical Research Journal homepage: www.ijipr.com