Hepatoprotective potential of Ayurvedic drugs: systematic review protocol for experimental studies

Abstract

To systematically evaluate and provide a critical assessment of the preclinical in vivo and in vitro studies testing the hepatoprotective potential of Ayurvedic medicinal plants and its formulations. This study will be conducted in adherence with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis) protocol. A comprehensive search will be performed in databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and AYUSH Research Portal from January 2010. In vitro investigations on the hepatoprotective potential of Ayurvedic herbs or drugs will be carried out through established protocols of chemically induced liver injury. The review will compile evidence only from published in vivo and in vitro studies which have tested the hepatoprotective efficacy of Ayurvedic medicinal plants and Classical Ayurvedic formulations. This procedure in detail provides an organised approach for the assessment of the hepatoprotective efficacy of Ayurvedic drugs involving animal studies. Evidence available in this review may assist in adopting scientific evidence-based rational use of certain Ayurvedic drugs in the management of liver diseases, keeping in mind that complete commercial products or toxin-free extract with proper standardisation, toxicity profile in animal models and in humans and clinically established efficient dose form are taken into consideration.