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of phytoconstituents. Clerodendron inerme (L.)
Gaertn (Family- Verbenaceae) is a scandent,
straggling highly branched plant 0.9 - 2.1 m. long.
The shrub is found in the wastelands, hedges, bank of
rivers, sea and in various tropical parts of India
(Kirtikar and Basu, 1998; Chatterjee and Pakrashi,
1995; Chopra et al., 1956) and is acknowledged under
vernaculars as ‘Glory Bower genus, Garden Quinine’
in English (Chourasiya et al., 2010); ‘Lanjai or
Sangkupi’ in Hindi; ‘Cholora’ in Oriya; ‘Kundali,
Samudrayuthika, Vanajai and Vanayuthika’ in
Sanskrit. The poultice of the plant is used in buboes,
vermifuge, anti periodic and as a substitute for quinine
in remittent and intermittent fevers. Traditionally the
leaves powder along with camphor, garlic or pepper
was used for edema, muscular pains, rheumatic pains
and roots were also used for venereal diseases
(Nadkarni, 1996, Kirtikar and Basu, 1998; Chopra et
al., 1956). Additionally, the fresh juices obtained from
powdered leaves are used as alternative in scrofula;
venereal diseases and is used orally in the treatment of
jaundice (Chatterjee and Pakrashi, 1995). Alcoholic
extract of leaves stimulates pregnant uterus, raises
blood pressure and increases intestinal movements in
rats. The main active chemical constituents include α-
and β- amyrins, betulin, dehydroroyleanone,
royleanone, neoclerodane (diterpenoids), Clerodermic
acid, Cleroinermin, Acacetin, Apigenin (5-hydroxy-7,
4’-dimethoxyflavone), Salvigenin (5-hydroxy-6, 7, 4’-
trimethoxyflavone), Pectolinarigenin, Scutellarein and
β-sitosterol (Chatterjee and Pakrashi, 1995; Rastogi
and Mehrotra, 1995). The literature reveals that C.
inerme is used orally in the treatment of jaundice in
traditional Indian medicine and, moreover, the
hepatoprotective activity of the stem and leaf water
extract of C. inerme against carbon tetrachloride-
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induced liver toxicity was reported by Gopal and
Sengottuvelu (2008). To date, no systematic study has
been reported in an acute model regarding the
Acetaminophen induced hepatotoxicity in mice. In the
present study, the authors has been made to establish
the hepatoprotective property of methanol and
petroleum ether leaf extracts of C. inerme against
Acetaminophen -induced hepatotoxicity in mice.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Plant material
The plant material (Leaves) used in the study.
Clerodendron inerme (Verbenaceae) were collected in
the month of August 2007 from the rural area of
Mohuda in Ganjam District of Orissa, India. The plant
was identified and authenticated by botanists Prof. S.
K. Dash, HOD, PG Department of Bioscience,
College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mohuda and
comparing with the voucher specimen (CI-1) present
in the herbarium, has been kept in the laboratory for
experimental purpose. The collected plant leaves were
washed and air-dried under the shade, cut into small
pieces, powdered by a mechanical grinder and passed
through 40-mesh sieve and stored in a closed vessel
for future use.
Preparation of C. inerme leave extracts
The dried, powdered leaves of Clerodendron
inerme (250 g) were extracted successively with
petroleum ether 60–80°C (10 h) in soxhlet apparatus.
A dark green colored petroleum ether extract was
obtained. The same leave powder (marc), after proper
air drying, again extracted with methanol (18 h) to
produce a greenish brown semisolid mass. The
extractions were carried out until the solvents become
colorless. These extracts were further dried and
concentrated by evaporating the solvent completely
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