HEPATOPROTECTIVE HERBS: AN UPDATED REVIEW

Liver diseases are becoming a serious global health problem and may be caused by many toxic substances, including chemotherapeutic drugs, thioacetamide, carbon tetrachloride, certain antibiotics, excessive alcohol consumption, and microbes. Therefore, having a healthy liver is vitally important for good health and well-being. The liver is an important organ, contributing to the metabolism of the body and that of xenobiotics. There are many toxic substances which could cause liver damage (certain antibiotics, chemotherapeutic drugs, carbon tetrachloride, thioacetamide, and microbes, are mostly responsible for liver cell damage). The synthetic drugs that are available at this point to deal with liver dysfunction causes additional harm to the liver. Hence, the use of herbal medicines has grown and become popular. The important medicinal herbs that can be used to treat liver diseases with the least impact on the kidneys have been described. Because of the hepatoprotective character, antioxidant-related characteristics and least harm to kidneys, features of the newly described medicinal plants can be used to develop new medicines for the prevention and treatment of liver diseases.