HEPATOPROTECTIVE EFFECT OF SOME EDIBLE MUSHROOMS

Seven locally available edible mushrooms were screened for their hepat oprotective activities using paracetamol (APAP)-induced liver injury i n the rat as a model of chemical hepatitis, A single oral dose of 1.0 g/kg of APAP was able to produce significantly elevated levels of seru m glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGBT) and glutamic oxaloacetic transa minase (SGOT). Administraiton of 300 mg/kg of the extracts from Lentin us erodes, Grifola frondosa and Tricholoma lobayense could significant ly reduce the APAP-induced acute elevation in the levels of SGPT and S GOT in rats, The mushroom crude drugs probably act to prevent the fall of hepatic reduced gluthanione (GSH) through some GSH-dependent enzym es and preserve the structural integrity of the cellular membrane of h epatocytes, or probably protect against paracetamol-induced liver inju ry through their antioxidant properties acting as a scavenger of free radicals even at low levels of GSH.