Preface

Since the ancient period, plants have shown a pivotal role in leading a healthy life. In developing countries, plant based medicines have great importance to the people. Herbal medicines are used for the treatment of liver diseases for an extended time. The Liver, is the foremost organ for maintaining the human body’s internal surroundings. Its major influence is on the flow of nutrients and controls the metabolism of carbohydrates, macromolecule and fats.

The book is an exclusive version of instructive matter in the aspect of Plant Derived Hepatoprotectives, a compilation of ten excellent review articles presenting the latest development in this field of natural product services. They cover a wide range of topics, all relevant to the evidence based therapeutic, protective and olfactory uses of common herbs.

The review by Ikbal et al. is focused on the anatomy, functions of the liver, types of liver injury, risk factors and various treatment strategies for liver diseases. Toxicology of the liver is a complex concept that entails either concurrent as well as sequential events. Drug-induced liver injury to the liver can match any form of acute or chronic liver injury. In the next review, the authors have highlighted the various hepatoprotective roles of medicinal plants. Details of Bioactive components and mode of action of hepatoprotective activity of the medicinal plant. With fewer side effects, herbal drugs have gained much attention in the mitigation of various liver disorders and in maintaining a healthy life. The author has provided a comprehensive chapter covering the scientific hepatoprotective agents that are often the treatment of choice to improve liver function and protect the liver from exposure to harmful compounds. Impressive studies have exposed that the health-promoting outcomes of bioactive constituents derivated from plants have often been applied to their antioxidant characteristics and raise cellular antioxidant protection system, scavenge free radicals, suppress lipid peroxidation, stimulate anti-inflammatory capacity, and assure the liver from destruction. These compounds are chlorogenic acid, curcumin, quercetin, hesperidin, rutin, betalains, apigenin, sylimarin, phyllanthin, mangiferin, α-mangostin, bellidifolin, ginsenosides, glycyrrhizin, lycopene, and andrographolide. Anishma et al has contributed a chapter on hepatoprotective effect of flavonoids. Many of the flavonoids have hepatoprotective activity and they are been used in traditional medicine to treat any kind of diseases like liver dysfunction and other damages caused by hepatoprotective. The next review by Jain NK and Singh N is also focused on various hepatoprotective plants and herbal formulations. Authors compile information on promising phytochemicals from medicinal plants that have been tested in hepatotoxicity models using cutting-edge scientific methods.

The next review by Jha et al. is also focused on the Regulatory affairs in herbal products. The review focused on various parameters/guidelines regulating the safety and efficacy of herbal pharmaceuticals, as well as their manufacturing and distribution, which have been strongly implemented by regulatory bodies. This chapter covers the importance of regulatory affairs to be used in the processing of herbs and herbal products and a comparative study of regulatory situations in different countries. Chakraborty R and Sen S have written a chapter on Hepatoprotective effects of edible plants and spices. The author focused on as part of the diet, edible plants could play an important role in protecting the liver from injury caused by oxidative stress, microorganism, or other exogenous substances This chapter highlighted edible plants with hepatoprotective activity. Koka SS et al. discuss the the role of terpenoids as hepatoprotective. Plants with a high level of terpenoids appear to have good hepatoprotective properties. Sweta S Koka et al. focused on the hepatoprotective effect of the tannin-rich compound. The tannin-containing drugs suppress or inhibit the formation of free radicals generated due to the metabolism of hepato-toxins. Tannins are widely used in marketed formulations that are used in the treatment of hepato-toxicity. The next review by Sarkar BK presented a chapter on hepatoprotective phytochemicals: isolation and characterization from plant extracts. The author has presented the advances in phytochemistry. The authors have presented the advance in phytochemistry and the number of herbal and herbomineral preparations available in the Ayurveda, the traditional Indian Medicine which, have been investigated for its hepatoprotective potential to treat different types of liver disorders. The present review is focused on different herbal plants that have the potential to cure hepatotoxicity.