Morinda elliptica L. (Rubiaceae) is a phytomedicinal herb, used to treat gastrointestinal complications in Peninsular Malaysia. The study evaluates the in vivo hepatoprotective activity of ethanolic extract of M. elliptica stem in thioacetamide (TAA) induced liver fibrosis in male Sprague Drawly rats. Thirty adult rats were divided into five groups of six rats each. Rats of the normal control group received intraperitoneal injections (i. p.) of vehicle 10% Tween-20, 5 ml/kg, and hepatotoxic group 200 mg/kg TAA three times per week respectively. Three supplementary groups were treated with TAA plus daily oral silymarin (50 mg/kg) or M. elliptica (250 or 500 mg/kg). After 8 weeks of treatment, all rats were sacrificed. Liver fibrosis was assessed by gross macroscopic and microscopic tissue analysis, histopathological, and biochemical analysis. The livers of the TAA treated group showed uniform coarse granules, hepatocytic necrosis with lymphocytes infiltration. Contrary, the livers of M. elliptica treated groups (250 and 500 mg/kg) were much smoother and the cell damage was much lesser. The livers of M. elliptica treated groups rats showed elevated activity of SOD and CAT with a significant decrease in MDA level at p < .0001. The level of liver damage parameters, that is, ALP, ALT, and AST, bilirubin, total protein, and albumin were restored to the normal comparable to silymarin. M. elliptica stem extract significantly promoted normal rat liver architecture with significant perfections in biochemical parameters. The molecular contents of M. elliptica with hepatoprotective influence could be discovered, is the future prospective of this study.

中文翻译：

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巴戟天茎提取物对硫代乙酰胺诱导的肝纤维化的体内保肝作用

Morinda elliptica L.（茜草科）是一种植物药草，用于治疗马来西亚半岛的胃肠道并发症。该研究评估了M. elliptica茎的乙醇提取物在硫代乙酰胺 (TAA) 诱导的雄性Sprague Drawly大鼠肝纤维化中的体内保肝活性。三十只成年大鼠被分成五组，每组六只大鼠。正常对照组大鼠腹腔注射10% Tween-20，5 ml/kg，肝毒性组200 mg/kg TAA，每周3次。三个补充组用 TAA 加每日口服水飞蓟素 (50 mg/kg) 或M. elliptica 治疗(250 或 500 毫克/公斤)。治疗8周后，处死所有大鼠。通过大体宏观和微观组织分析、组织病理学和生化分析评估肝纤维化。TAA治疗组肝脏呈均匀粗大颗粒，肝细胞坏死伴淋巴细胞浸润。相反，M. elliptica治疗组（250 和 500 mg/kg）的肝脏更光滑，细胞损伤更小。M. elliptica治疗组大鼠的肝脏显示 SOD 和 CAT 活性升高，MDA 水平显着降低，p  < .0001。肝损伤参数，即 ALP、ALT 和 AST、胆红素、总蛋白和白蛋白的水平恢复到与水飞蓟素相当的正常水平。M. elliptica茎提取物显着促进正常大鼠肝脏结构，生化参数显着改善。可以发现具有保肝作用的M. elliptica的分子含量，是本研究的未来展望。