Investigation of hepatoprotective effects of some Fumaria L. species

Fumaria L. SPECIES In this study, the hepatoprotective activity of fractions and alkaloidal extracts obtained (BAYF) from the aerial parts of Fumaria vaillantii Lois. (Papaveraceae) which has been used for blood purification and anti-allergic in Turkish folk medicine by bio-assay guided fractionation technique, were evaluated in CCl4-induced hepatic damage model. The biochemical and histopathological parameters for the assessment of protective activity assessment on carbon tetrachlorideinduced hepatic damage were used. According to our activity studies, high amounts of the active ingredients were found in alkaloid extracts. As a result of the bioassay guided isolation studies, protopine alkaloid was isolated as one of active compounds in the alkaloid extract. Literature surveys showed that there are some reports about hepatoprotective activity of protopin. Therefore, hepatoprotective activity of protopine was not tested in this study. Protopine is not only responsible compound for the hepatoprotective activity of F. vaillantii. For this reason, mass spectra of compounds in the active fraction were analyzed using UPLC-TOF-MS technique. According to the results, the hepatoprotective activity of F. vaillantii was found to be originated from the synergistic effect of cryptopine and two other protoberberine alkaloids along with the protopine. İn addition, the active fraction was also standardized to contain 5.66-6.67 mg of protopine in 100 mg of active fraction of F. vaillantii .by HPLC Key words: Fumaria vaillantii Lois., hepatoprotective activity,protopine, standardized extract, cryptopine