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Abstract A number of herbal preparations are used throughout the world for the management of the hepatic disorders. However, many of them have not been investigated for their described effects. Ecballium elaterium, is one such medicinal plant, whose fruit juice is used for the treatment of jaundice in folk medicine. Therefore, an attempt was made to investigate the phytochemical composition of Ecballium elaterium fruit juice, using HPLC-DAD-MSn and to investigate its prophylactic and curative efficacy against CCl4 induced liver intoxication in albino Wister rats using three different dosages (0.01, 0.2 and 0.4 ml/rat (250mg) Ecballium elaterium juice p.o) in comparison with the reference drug silymarin (50mg/kg p.o) using the following liver injury biomarkers including serum enzymes (SGPT, SGOT, ALP) Total bilirubin, Direct bilirubin and total serum protein and histopathological investigations. Phytochemical screening using HPLC-MSn indicated the presence of Cucurbitacins D, E, I and B. while the Biochemical results have shown that Ecballium elaterium juice possesses prophylactic and curative activity against CCl4 induced liver intoxication. The percentage reduction in the liver injury biomarkers was dose dependent. The 0.2 ml/ rat (250mg) dose seems to be the most effective and least nontoxic dose compared with the other doses. This provides evidence that support the traditional use of the plant extract in the treatment of liver diseases. |