Hepatoprotective Potential of Hura crepitans L.: A Review of Ethnomedical, Phytochemical and Pharmacological Studies
Oluwole S. Owojuyigbe
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana and Department of Science Laboratory Technology, Federal Polytechnic Ede, Nigeria.
Caleb K. Firempong
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
Christopher Larbie *
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
Gustav Komlaga
Department of Pharmacognosy, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
Benjamin O. Emikpe
Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Herbal medicines are the main source of treatment of diseases in non-urban centres of the developing world. Secondary metabolites obtained from herbal sources contain bioactive phytochemicals, many of which have been the origin for the development of novel pharmaceutical drugs. Hura crepitans L. (Euphorbiaceae) or sandbox tree has been beneficial in many ethnomedicinal applications as a purgative, emetic, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and the treatment of leprosy. Toxicological, phytochemical and bactericidal studies have also been documented. This paper reviews the potential of the Hura crepitans plant in protecting the liver against drug-induced toxicity. The paper dwells extensively on the ethnomedical, phytochemical and pharmacological properties of the plant. In achieving the above, intensive analyses of books and published peer-reviewed journal articles were carried out using credible scientific databases. Four main phytochemicals were revealed to be contained in Hura crepitans stem-bark. Their protective effects were enunciated using animal models. However much more biochemical studies need to be done to establish the hepatoprotective potentials of the various parts and various phytochemicals of Hura crepitans with the need for more preclinical and clinical studies. We, therefore, present in this paper efforts to elucidate and bring to the fore the therapeutic potentials of Hura crepitans plant.
Keywords: Hura crepitans L., toxicological assessment, phytochemical properties, hepato-protection