Hepatoprotective Effect of Phyllanthus amarus Leaf Extract Against Paracetamol-Induced Liver Injury in Wistar Rats

Abstract

Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is safe at therapeutic doses yet remains a leading cause of acute liver failure after overdose, and it is the toxicant most often used to test whether a plant extract protects the liver. Phyllanthus amarus, a small herb used in several traditional medicine systems, is among the plants most often tested this way. This narrative review asks what the published literature actually supports about its hepatoprotective activity, with attention to rodent paracetamol models such as the Wistar rat. It reports no new experiments and no local data. We first outline how paracetamol injures the liver, then describe the phytochemistry of the plant and the evidence from cell, rodent and human studies, and finally appraise how far that evidence can be trusted. Protective signals are consistent across several toxicants and several Phyllanthus species, and plausible mechanisms centre on antioxidant defence and preservation of glutathione. The weaknesses are equally consistent: crude and poorly characterised extracts, uncertain plant identity, few studies among those we reviewed that use paracetamol itself in the rat, little comparison of timing with the standard antidote, and, as in animal research generally, incomplete reporting of methods. The review concludes that protection in rodents is credible but that its size, mechanism and relevance to people remain unproven, and it lists what a decisive study would need.