Hepatoprotective Effects of a Chemically-Characterized Extract from Cistus ladanifer: In Vivo and in Silico Investigations

Abstract

Background: Liver damage is indicated by histopathological and metabolic dysfunction. There has been increasing interest in natural hepatoprotective agents from medicinal herbs. The medicinal plant Cistus ladanifer widely used in phytotherapy was selected for this study. Objectives: The work aims to investigate the hepatoprotective effects of Cistus ladanifer leaf extracts in vivo against the paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity mice and in silico using the docking method. The chemical composition of the extracts was also studied. Materials and methods: The paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity mice were treated with aqueous and methanolic extracts of Cistus ladanifer at two doses of 150 and 300 mg/kg body. The serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, triglycerides, total cholesterol, urea, and creatinine in mice-induced hepatotoxicity were measured to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of the extracts. The histopathological alterations were also investigated. The chemical profile of methanolic and aqueous C. ladanifer extracts was determined using GC-MS. The Human Cytochrome P450 2E1(CYP2E1) was presented as a protein target and the docking was studied using Maestro version 11.5 software developed by Schrodinger, LLC. Results: The administration of C. ladanifer extracts showed hepatic protection at an oral dose of 150 and 300 mg/kg for the aqueous extract and only at 150 mg/kg for the methanolic one. The aqueous extract at both doses and the methanolic extract at 150 mg/kg didn’t occur any biochemical or histological alterations. However, the methanolic extract showed hepatic toxicity at 300 mg/kg. Various compounds were identified in the methanolic and the aqueous extracts, probably responsible of the hepatoprotective activity. The in silico study has also shown that some molecules present in both extracts presented a good affinity in the active site of Cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1). Conclusion: The results deserve more attention as C. ladanifer can be considered a source of pharmacological compounds with hepatoprotective effects. Further detailed investigation is needed to deepen the study.