Phytochemical, Chromatographic and Hepatoprotective Activity Studies of Indigenous Medicinal plant Coccinia indica

Coccinia indica (Family: Cucurbitaceae), is widely distributed throughout India. It is used in various indigenous systems of medicine against several diseases and almost every part of the plant has diverse pharmacological properties. The present investigation includes a detailed hepatoprotective activity study of the ethanolic extract of Coccinia indica leaf (CILE) on alcohol induced liver damage in rats. Ethanol produced significant changes in various liver parameters such as physical (increased liver weight and volume) and biochemical (increased levels of AST, ALT, TG, TB and DB) along with changes in histological parameters. Treatments with CILE (200 and 400 mg/kg/day, p.o. for 30 days) and silymarin significantly prevented the physical, biochemical and histological changes induced by ethanol, indicating the recovery of hepatic cells. An optimize HPTLC fingerprint pattern has been developed at 366 nm for the identification and quality assessment of raw leaves of Coccinia indica.