ABSTRACT
Aim To investigate the effect of Aesculus hippocastanum seed extract(AH) on concanavalin A (ConA)-induced acute liver injury in mice,and to ex-plore whether the mechanism was related to the inhibi-tory effect of AH on oxidative stress and c-Jun N-termi-nal kinase (JNK). Methods ConA(20 mg·kg-1) was administered via tail vein injecting to induce he-patic damage in mice. The groups of AH were given at 12.5,25,50 mg·kg-1by oral gavage separately for 20 days. The serum levels of AST,ALT,TP,and Alb were determined by automatic biochemical analyzer and the A/G ratio was calculated. TNF-α and IFN-γ levels were assayed by ELISA. The liver tissue was attained by HE and the histopathological changes were calculat-ed. The MDA, SOD, GSH contents of liver tissues were assayed by related kits. The activity of caspase-3 was detected by spectrophotometry. The expressions of cytochrome C and Bax, Bcl-2, p-JNK and p-Akt were detected by Western blot. Results The serum levels of ALT, AST, IFN-γ and TNF-α in AH groups were significantly lower than those in ConA-injured group, while the levels of TP,Alb and A/G were significantly higher. The SOD and GSH levels of liver tissues signif-icantly increased and MDA level decreased; liver his-topathological changes were consistent with those of the serological indicators, and AH treatment significantly reduced the pathological damage induced by ConA. In AH group,the expression of cytochrome C,caspase-3, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and p-JNK markedly decreased, while the expression of p-Akt protein increased compared with ConA model group. Conclusion AH could sig-nificantly protect the ConA-induced acute liver injury in mice via inhibition of ROS and JNK pathway.