Hepatoprotective effects of polyprenols from Ginkgo biloba L. leaves on CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in rats

The hepatoprotective effects of polyprenols from Ginkgo biloba L leaves were evaluated against carbon tetrachloride induced hepatic damage in Sprague-Dawley rats. The elevated levels of serum ALT, AST, ALP, ALB, TP, HA, LN, TG, and CHO were restored towards normalization significantly by GBP in a dose dependent manner. The biochemical observations were supplemented with histopathological examination of rat liver sections. Meanwhile, GBP also produced a significant and dose-dependent reversal of CCl4-diminished activity of the antioxidant enzymes and reduced CCl4-elevated level of MDA. In general, the effects of GBP were not significantly different from those of the standard drug Essentiale. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.