Abstract
The study was aimed to investigate the antioxidant activity of
Cytisus scoparius L. (Family: Leguminosae) on CCl
4 (carbon tetrachloride) treated oxidative stress in Wistar albino rats. CCl
4 injection induced oxidative stress by a significant rise in serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminases (SGOT), serum glutamate pyruvate transaminases (SGPT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) along with reduction of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-
s-transferase (GST) and glutathione reductase (GRD). Pretreatment of rats with different doses of plant extract (250 and 500
mg/kg) significantly lowered SGOT, SGPT, LDH and TBARS levels against CCl
4 treated rats. GSH and hepatic enzymes like SOD, CAT, GPx, GRD, and GST were significantly increased by treatment with the plant extract, against CCl
4 treated rats. The activity of extract at the dose of 500
mg/kg was comparable to the standard drug, silymarin (25
mg/kg). Based on these results, it was observed that
Cytisus scoparius extract protects liver from oxidative stress induced by CCl
4 in rats and thus helps in evaluation of the traditional claim on this plant.