Effects of water extract of Paeoniae Radix Alba on a thioacetamide induced acute liver injury rat model / 한국영양학회지

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#Paeonia Radix Alba is a traditional herbal medicine used to treat the liver and the spleen. Many studies have reported that Paeonia Radix Alba extract (PR) affects liver injury, but there has been no study on liver injuries induced by thioacetamide (TAA). Therefore, we aimed at evaluating the effect of PR on a TAA-induced acute liver injury (ALI) model. @*Methods@#The antioxidant activity of PR was assayed by the content of total polyphenol, total flavonoid, 1,1-diphenyl-2′-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzo-thiazoline-6-sulfonicacid) (ABTS) radical scavenging activities in vitro test. ALI was induced via-intraperitoneal injection of TAA (200 mg/kg body weight) for three consecutive days. Also, silymarin (100 mg/ kg body weight) and PR (100 or 200 mg/kg body weight) were administered at 1 hours 30 minutes prior to TAA treatment. The levels of ammonia, glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), and glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT) were analyzed using an assay kit. The expressions of antioxidant proteins including Nrf2, Keap1, HO-1, SOD, catalase, and GPx-1/2 and oxidative stressrelated proteins including NOX2, p47 phox , and p22 phox were evaluated by the western blot analysis. @*Results@#PR showed excellent antioxidant activity in vitro. TAA administration increased the levels of ammonia, GOT, and GPT in the ALI control group compared to the normal group, whereas it was significantly reduced by PR pretreatment. Moreover, NADPH oxidase protein expressions were upregulated after TAA treatment, while the elevated expressions were inhibited by PR pretreatment. The expressions of antioxidant protein were downregulated in the ALI control group, whereas Nrf2 activation in the PR group was accompanied by increased levels of antioxidant enzymes. @*Conclusion@#PR administration increased the antioxidant enzymes via activation of the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway and inhibited the protein levels of NADPH oxidase factors. Taken together, these results showed that PR treatment may be considered to ameliorate acute liver injury induced by TAA.