Preliminary Study on Hepatoprotective Activity of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) Pulp Against Hepatic Damage in Rats

Tomato was evaluated for its liver protective role against carbon tetrachloride (CCl ) induced liver 4 damage in Wister albino rats. Animals were orally treated with tomato pulp (20 and 40 mL/kg body weight) for seven days followed by intraperitoneal injection (2 ml/kg) of 50% v/v CC1 on the last day. The degree of 4 protection was determined by measuring levels of serum biochemical parameters such as aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total bilirubin. A hepatotoxic dose of CCl (2 mL/kg) significantly raised (P<0.05) the serum AST, ALT, ALP and total bilirubin 4 levels to 345.8 ± 17 U/L, 243.0 ± 13 U/L, 814.0 ± 12 U/L and 1.75 ± 0.56 mg/dL (n = 5), respectively, compared to respective control values of 193.2 ± 15 U/L, 122.5 ± 16 U/L, 449.0 ± 50 U/L and 0.78 ± 0.20 mg/dL. Pretreatment of rats with tomato pulp (40 mL/kg) significantly (P<0.05) lowered the respective serum AST, ALT and ALP levels to 281.8 ± 15 U/L, 187.4 ± 6.2 U/L and 613.0 ± 42 U/L. In conclusion results revealed that tomato pulp significantly reduced the CCl induced hepatotoxicity. 4