Metabolic profiling and in vivo hepatoprotective activity of Malpighia glabra L. leaves.

Although Malpighia glabra Linn. fruits are well studied for their nutritional and medicinal prominence; little attention has been given to the leaves. Our study intends to investigate the leaves metabolic profile using Q?TOF LC/MS/MS (Quadrupole?Time?of?Flight?Liquid?Chromatography?Mass?Spectrometry), and to explore their in vivo hepatoprotective activity in rats using CCL4?induced hepatic damage model and silymarin as standard. Fifty metabolites were characterized, belonging to different classes; coumarins (capensine, daphnoretin, and scopoletin), flavonoids (mainly quercetin and apigenin glycosides), phenolic acids (cinnamic acid and quinic acid derivatives)and amino acids (adenosine, homoisoleucine, and phenylalanine).These compounds are detected in the leaves for the first time. The hepatoprotective activity at three doses (200, 400, and 800 mg/kg)was investigated. The dose of 800 mg/Kg showed the highest hepatoprotective effect as it reduced the elevated serum levels of ALT, AST, NO, and TNF?? liver content by 26, 24, 23, and 42percent, respectively, it also remarkably increased the serum level of catalase by 102percent. All the tested doses showed higher reduction in serum level of TNF?? compared to silymarin which suggests their strong anti?inflammatory potential. M. glabra leaves are revealed to be a rich source of secondary metabolites and proved to possess significant hepatoprotective potential.