This study investigated the hepatoprotective activity of methanolic leaf extract of Jatropha tanjorensis in carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicy in albino rats. The extract was tested at the doses of 200 mk/kg and 400 mg/kg, given orally for 14 days and silymarin, a standard hepatoprotective drug was used as reference. Liver damage was induced in the rats by a single intraperitoneal injection of 4 ml/kg of 25% carbon tetrachloride in liquid paraffin. Hepatoprotection was evaluated by estimation of serum levels of liver function markers and determination of lipid profile in the animals following standard methods. The result obtained showed that both doses of J. tanjorensis significantly (p < 0.05) lowered the serum levels of Alkaline Phosphatse (ALP), Aspartate aminotrasfase (AST), Alanine aminotransferas (ALT). The higher dose (400 mg/kg) of the extract significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the level of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and significantly (p < 0.05) increased the level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in the treated rats when compared to the negative control rats. The lower dose (200 mg/kg) significantly (p < 0.05) lowered the level of TG and LDL-C but could not cause any significant (p < 0.05) change in the levels of TC, HDL-C and VLDL-C in the treated groups when compared with the negative control. The actions of the plant were dose – dependent and comparable to those of silymarin.
