Hepatoprotective effects of Lysimachia christinae Hanceextracts on acute liver injury induced by tripterygium glycosides in mice / 中国药学杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the hepatoprotective effects of Lysimachia christinae Hance against acute liver injury induced by tripterygium glycosides (TG) in vivo and the related mechanism for the first time. METHODS: The mice were administered ethanol extract of L. christinae (JE), water extract of L. christinae (JW), and bifendate by ig for seven consecutive days. 12 h after the last dose, the mice were orally given TG 270 mg · kg-1 except those in the normal group. Serum and liver tissue samples were collected at 18 h after TG treatment. Besides, the amounts of quercetin and kaempferol in JE and JW were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). RESULTS: TG-induced elevated serum alanine transferase(ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) activities were significantly reduced by JE(100, 200 mg · kg-1) in dose-dependent manners, but not by JW. Further analysis demonstrated that lipid peroxidation(LPO) level significantly decreased, while superoxide dismutase(SOD) and catalase(CAT) activities increased in livers of JE-treated mice. Besides, the amounts of quercetin and kaempferol were 9.8 and 8.9 mg · g-1 in JE, and 2.8 and 1.9 mg · g-1 in JW, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study for the first time demonstrates that L. christinae can protect against TG-induced acute liver injury in dose-dependent manners in vivo, the potential mechanism may be related to inhibiting liver oxidative stress injury, and the hepatoprotective activity may be correlated with the contents of quercetin and kaempferol. Copyright 2013 by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.