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Bilirubin clearance and antioxidant activities of ethanol extract of Phyllanthus amarus root in phenylhydrazine-induced neonatal jaundice in mice

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Abstract

The ability of ethanol extract of Phyllanthus amarus root (EEPA) to decrease bilirubin level and oxidative stress in phenylhydrazine-induced neonatal jaundice in mice was investigated. Administration of phenylhydrazine (75 mg/kg b.w.) significantly elevated total and unconjugated serum bilirubin level compared to control mice. EEPA (5, 10, and 20 mg/kg b.w., oral) dose-dependently reduced the bilirubin level. EEPA treatment also upregulated hepatic CAR and CYP3A1, accounting for its ability to facilitate bilirubin clearance. A single dose of EEPA (20 mg/kg b.w.) induced higher level of bilirubin clearance than phototherapy, widely used for treating neonatal jaundice. Furthermore, phenylhydrazine administration significantly increased MDA, protein carbonyl, and total thiol content and lowered the GSH level along with superoxide dismutase and catalase activity in erythrocyte compared to the control group. Single administration of EEPA (20 mg/kg b.w.) significantly reversed the trend. Presence of gallic acid, gentisic acid, and ortho-coumaric acid in EEPA was identified by HPLC analysis. Amongst these, the major phenolic constituent, gallic acid, exhibited significant bilirubin-lowering effect. These results suggested that P. amarus may be beneficial in reducing bilirubin level as well as oxidative stress in neonatal jaundice.

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Abbreviations

EEPA:

70 % ethanol extract of root of Phyllanthus amarus

STB:

Serum total bilirubin

SCB:

Serum conjugated bilirubin

SUB:

Serum unconjugated bilirubin

CAR:

Constitutive androstane receptor

CYP:

Cytochrome P450

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences (2008/37/19/BRNS) for funding this scientific work. We would like to thank UGC-CAS and DST-FIST for providing infrastructural support to the Department of Biochemistry, University of Calcutta, India. We acknowledge with thanks Prof. A. Das Gupta, Department of Biochemistry, University of Calcutta, for analyzing the image data with MATLAB 7.0.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata, 700019, India

    Soumya Maity, Nivedita Nag & Santasree Mazumder

  2. Food Technology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, 400085, India

    Suchandra Chatterjee

  3. Radiation and Photochemistry Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, 400085, India

    Soumyakanti Adhikari

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  1. Soumya Maity
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  2. Nivedita Nag
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Correspondence to Santasree Mazumder.

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Maity, S., Nag, N., Chatterjee, S. et al. Bilirubin clearance and antioxidant activities of ethanol extract of Phyllanthus amarus root in phenylhydrazine-induced neonatal jaundice in mice. J Physiol Biochem 69, 467–476 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13105-013-0234-y

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