Effect of echinacoside on the protection of acute liver injury induced by concanavalin A in mice and its effect on extracellular histones / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of echinacoside on the protection of acute liver injury induced by concanavalin A (ConA) in mice and on the extracellular histones. Methods Male C57BL/6 (B6) mice were randomly divided into three groups control group (n=6), which received saline only; ConA-treated group (n=8), which were given ConA (30mg/kg) via tail vein; echinacoside plus ConA-treated group (n=8), which were treated with echinacoside solutions by gavage at a dose of 50mg/ kg for 3 days before ConA injection. At 16 h after ConA treatment, all mice were sacrificed to collect blood and tissue samples for analysis of hepatic function, pathological indexes, as well as extracellular histones and the relevant inflammatory cytokines. Results Acute liver injury in mice was induced by ConA administration as demonstrated by elevated serum ALT, AST levels and severe pathological changes. Echinacoside plus ConA-treated mice showed significantly lower levels of ALT and AST and milder liver injury than that in ConA-treated mice (P<0.01). The number of mice survived in echinacoside plus ConA-treated group was more than that in ConA-treated group. Moreover, the levels of extracellular histones and IL-1, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α were markedly decreased in echinacoside plus ConA-treated mice as compared to those in ConA-treated mice (P<0.01). Conclusions Echinacoside may act an obvious protective effect against acute liver injury induced by ConA, and it might be due to its inhibitory effect on pro-inflammatory mediators including cytokines and lowering of extracellular histones.