Raphanus sativus (Cruciferaceae), commonly known as radish is widely available throughout the world. From antiquity it has been used in folk medicine as a natural drug against many toxicants. The present study was designed to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of radish (Raphanus sativus) enzyme extract (REE) in vitro and in vivo test. The IC50 values of REE in human liver derived HepG2 cells was over 5,000 μg/ml in tested maximum concentration. The effect of REE to protect tacrine-induced cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells was evaluated by MTT assay. REE showed their hepatoprotective activities on tacrineinduced cytotoxicity and the EC50 value was 1,250 μg/ml. Silymarin, an antihepatotoxic agent used as a positive control exhibited 59.7% hepatoprotective activitiy at 100 μg/ml. Moreover, we tested the effect of REE on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver toxicity in rats. REE at dose of 50 and 100 mg/kg and silymarin at dose of 50 mg/kg were orally administered to CCl4-treated rats. The results showed that REE and silymarin significantly reduced the elevated levels of serum enzyme markers induced by CCl4. The biochemical data were supported by evaluation with liver histopathology. These findings suggest that REE, can significantly diminish hepatic damage by toxic agent such as tacrine or CCl4.
Keywords: CCl4; Enzyme extract; Hepatoprotection; Radish; Raphanus sativus; Tacrine.