Hepatotoxicity study of extracts and main components in Polygonum multijiorum using high content analysis / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective: A high-content analysis (HCA) method was established for the in vitro evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine and the potential hepatotoxicity components and mechanism of Polygonum multijiorum were discussed. Methods: HepG2 cells were incubated with different concentration and different incubation time of P. multijiorum extracts and components and then cells were stained with three fluorescent probes, then HCA was applied to detect the cell number, nucleus area, mitochondrial mass, and mitochondrial membrane potential. Results: The ethyl acetate extract and dichloromethane extract had served hepatotoxicity. No significant changes were observed at low concentration (0.01 and 1 μmol/L) of P. multijiorum components; However, the cell number of aloe emodin, emodin, rhein, and gallic acid decreased significantly at the concentration of 0.1 μmol/L. Aloe emodin also caused the nuclear swollen. The TC50 values of emodin and rhein obtained from the dose-response curves were similar to the previous reports. Conclusion: The aloe emodin, emodin, rhein, and gallic acid have potential hepatotoxicity that P. multijiorum induces liver injury. The hepatotoxicity of P. multijiorum may be related to mitochondria-mediated apoptosis according to the influence of P.multijiorum components on mitichondrial mass and mitochondrial membrane potential from the results. The HCA is applicable to evaluate the hepatotoxicity of traditional Chinese medicine.