Hepatoprotective Effect ofShidagonglaoon Acute Liver Injury Induced by Carbon Tetrachloride

Abstract

This study investigates the hepatoprotective activity of ethanol extract from Shidagonglao roots (SDGLEtOH). The hepatoprotective effect of SDGLEtOH(20, 100 and 500 mg/kg) was analyzed on carbon tetrachloride ( CCl4)-induced acute liver injury. Rats pretreated orally with SDGLEtOH(100 and 500 mg/kg) and silymarin (200 mg/kg) for 3 consecutive days prior to the administration of a single dose of 50% CCl4(0.10 ml/100 g of bw, ip) significantly prevented the increases in the activities of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in CCl4-treated rats. Histological analysis also showed that SDGLEtOH(100 and 500 mg/kg) and silymarin reduced the incidence of liver lesions including vacuole formation, neutrophil infiltration and necrosis of hepatocytes induced by CCl4in rats. Moreover, the SDGLEtOH(100 and 500 mg/kg) increased the activities of anti-oxidative enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GRd) and decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) level in liver, as compared to those in the CCl4-treated group. Furthermore, SDGLEtOH(100 and 500 mg/kg) and silymarin attenuated the increased levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in serum and nitric oxide ( NO ) in liver as compared to the CCl4-treated group. The hepatoprotective mechanisms of SDGLEtOHare likely related to inhibition of TNF-α, MDA and NO productions via increasing the activities of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, GPx and GRd). These experimental results suggest that SDGLEtOHcan attenuate CCl4-induced acute liver injury in rats.