The protection effects of Liuweiwuling Tablets against concanavalin A-induced acute immunological liver injury in mice / 中国药理学通报

ABSTRACT

Aim To explore the protective effects and underlying mechanisms of Liu weiwuling Tablets (LW-WL)in concanavalin A (ConA)induced acute immu-nological liver injury in mice.Methods Mice were randomly divided into control,model,Bicyclol,LW-WL low dose (8 g·kg-1 )and LWWL high dose (16 g ·kg-1 )group.The medicattion was performed once daily for seven consecutive days,then the model of im-munological liver injury was prepared by intravenous injection of ConA (15mg·kg-1)in the tail of mice in each group except for the control group one hour after the last treatment.The pathological changes of liver tissues of mice were evaluated by HE staining with, and the levels of alanine amino transferase (ALT),as-partate aminotransferase (AST),and total bilirubin (TBIL)in serum were analyzed by colorimetric meth-od;the level of interleukin 12 (IL-12 ),interferon-γ(IFN-γ),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleu-kin 4 (IL-4)and interleukin 10 (IL-10)in liver was measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR);the changes of Th1 (IFN-γ) and Th2 (IL-4)cells were observed by flow cytometric (FCM)analysis;the expression of Th1/Th2 transcrip-tion factor T-bet/GATA-3 in liver tissue was detected by Western blot.Results Compared with normal con-trol group,the serum ALT,AST and TBIL were signif-icantly increased in model group, the pathological damage of the liver tissue was severe,and the necrosis and apoptosis of hepatic cells were large, which showed that the model was successful .Compared with model group,both low and high dose of LWWL could significantly reduce ALT,AST,TBIL levels in serum induced by ConA;Th1 cells in the spleen decreased, while Th2 cells increased;the expressions of IL-12, IFN-γand TNF-αmRNA were significantly inhibited with IL-4 and IL-10 mRNA expression elevated in mouse liver tissue;the expression of GATA-3 protein was up-regulated,T-bet protein expression showing no significant changes.Conclusion LWWL could regu-late Th1/Th2 balance,thus inhibiting the acute immu-nity hepatic injury induced by ConA.