Scholars International Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine (SIJTCM)
Volume-9 | Issue-06 | 82-95
Original Research Article
Hepatoprotective Effect of N-Hexane Extract of Alchornea laxiflora against Methylcholanthrene-Induced Cancer in Wistar Rat
Ogunboye Adebayo A., Uhunmwangho Esosa, Adewole Mulikat A., Odutayo Oluwatofunmi E., Fadeyi Esther Temiloluwa
Published : June 29, 2026
Abstract
Alchornea laxiflora is a shrub belonging to the family of Euphobiaceae and is widely distributed in tropical Africa. The present study evaluated the in vitro antioxidant activities, in vivo antioxidant activities, anti-toxicity potentials of Alchornea laxiflora root extract, possible hepatoprotective effect against methylcholanthrene-induced cancer and the hepatoprotection compared to cyclophosphamide using adult Wistar rats. N-hexane root extract of Alchornea laxiflora demonstrated appreciable in vitro antioxidant capacity and radical scavenging ability compared with reference standards. Oral administration of the extract at varying doses (50, 100, and 200mg/kg body weight) was shown to significantly decrease (p<0.05) the effect of liver damage on methylcholanthrene-induced (50mg/kg) cancer when compared to the group administered cyclophosphamide (20mg/kg body weight) by reducing the activities of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and alkaline Phosphatase (AST, ALT and ALP) in the serum. In the 3-Methylcholanthrene administered groups (50 mg/kg), there was significant increase (p<0.05) in Malondialdehyde (MDA) level as well as a decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH) content when compared to the positive control. Animals administered with Alchornea laxiflora (50, 100, 200mg/kg) showed a significant increase in GSH content and significant decrease in malondialdehyde (MDA) level relative to the animals administered cyclophosphamide. The result from the histological assay showed that there was no observable lesion in groups administered Alchornea laxiflora when compared to the negative control which showed plates of hepatocellular atrophy. These findings suggest that Alchornea laxiflora root has potent antioxidant activity which may be responsible for some of its reported anticancer activities.