Antioxidant Phytoconstituents FromOnosma bracteataWall. (Boraginaceae) Ameliorate the CCl4Induced Hepatic Damage:In VivoStudy in Male Wistar Rats

Onosma bracteataWall. (Boraginaceae) is a highly valuable medicinal herb that is used for the treatment of fever, bronchitis, asthma, rheumatism, stomach irritation, and other inflammatory disorders. The present study aims to explore the hepatoprotective potential of ethanolic extract (Obeth) fromO. bracteataaerial parts against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) which causes hepatic damage in the male Wistar rats.Obethshowed effective radical quenching activity with an EC(50)of 115.14 and 199.33 mu g/mL in superoxide radical scavenging and lipid peroxidation analyses respectively along with plasmid DNA protective potential in plasmid nicking assay. TheObethmodulated mutagenicity of 2 Aminofluorine (2AF) in the pre-incubation mode of investigation (EC(50)10.48 mu g/0.1 mL/plate) in TA100 strain ofSalmonella typhimurium. Inin vivostudies, pretreatment ofObeth(50, 100, and 200 mg/kg) had the potential to normalize the biochemical markers aggravated by CCl4(1mL/kg b.wt.) including liver antioxidative enzymes. Histopathological analysis also revealed the restoration of CCl4-induced liver histopathological alterations. Immunohistochemical studies showed that the treatment ofObethdownregulated the expression levels of p53 and cyclin D in hepatocytes. and downregulation in the Western blotting analysis revealed the downregulation of p-NF-kB, COX-2, and p53. HPLC data analysis showed the supremacy of major compounds namely, catechin, kaempferol, epicatechin, and Onosmin A inObeth. The present investigation establishes the hepatoprotective and chemopreventive potential ofO. bracteataagainst CCl4-induced hepatotoxicityviaantioxidant defense system and modulation of the expression of proteins associated with the process of carcinogenesis in hepatic cells.