Aqueous Extract of Date Fruit (Phoenix Dactylifera) Has Hepatocurative Effect on Carbon Tetrachloride Induced Toxicity in Rats

Liver disease account for a reasonable percentage of medical admissions, and the synthetic drugs used for the treatment of the disease are sometimes ineffective and/or very expensive. Furthermore, the side effects associated with some of them are numerous. These and many other reasons shifted the interest of scientists for the search of plants with hepatocurative effect. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate the curative effect of aqueous extract of date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera) on rats with carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity. The serum level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), direct bilirubin (DB) and total bilirubin (TB) were measured as markers of liver disease using standard methods, and compared among group I (Negative control), group II (Positive control), group III (Fed with food + 249mg/kg of extract), group IV (Fed with food + 580mg/kg of extract), group V (hepatotoxic rats treated with 249mg/kg of extract) and group VI (hepatotoxic rats treated with 580mg/kg of extract). The results showed that administration of the various concentration of the extract to healthy rats does not cause any harm to the liver. Also, the different concentrations of the extract significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the level of ALT, AST, ALP, DB and TB in treated groups (group IV and V) compared to group II. These results suggest that the aqueous extract of date fruit may have hepatocurative effect against CCl4-induced liver damage in rats. This research may open the “gate” for the use of date fruit in treating liver disease in human, especially in places such as Northern Nigeria, where date fruit is cheaply abundant.