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Objective: To investigate the antifibrotic effects of Chrysanthemum indicum ethanol extract (CIEE) against activated hepatic stellate cells (HSC) and thioacetamide (TAA)-induced hepatofibrosis in rats. Methods: Cell viability and proliferation of HSC-T6 cells were measured using MTT assay. Primary HSCs were used to study morphology. TAA (200 mg/kg) was used to induced hepatic fibrosis in rats. CIEE (100 and 500 mg/kg) and silymarin (50 mg/kg) were administered orally. Liver functions including alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, glutathione, and hydroxyproline levels were measured using commercial kits. Liver sections and fibrotic biomarker expression were measured using hematoxylin and eosin staining and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: In vitro study revealed that CIEE (0.1, 0.25, and 0.5 mg/mL) inhibited the proliferation of activated HSCs exposed to transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and restored the activated primary HSC morphology. In in vivo studies, TAA-induced increase in liver/body weight ratio (5.46 ± 0.26) was significantly reduced (4.13 ± 0.22) by CIEE (P<0.05 at 500 mg/kg). CIEE (100 and 500 mg/kg) improved the liver functions by significantly attenuating changes in alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, glutathione, and hydroxyproline levels (P<0.05). Further, CIEE (100 and 500 mg/kg) ameliorated the histological changes in liver tissue and TGF-β expression significantly (P<0.05) in TAA-induced rats. Conclusions: CIEE significantly protects against TAA-induced liver damage in rats and can be used in the treatment of liver fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Allium senescens Linn. (Liliaceae) (ASL) has been traditionally used in Korea and other Asian countries for improving digestive and liver functions. Objective: The anti-hepatofibrosis effect of ASL ethanol extract in cellular and experimental fibrosis rat model was investigated. Materials and methods: In vitro cell viability, cell cycle and apoptosis in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) were studied using MTT assay, flow cytometry and Annexin V-FITC/PI staining. Thioacetamide (TAA; 200 mg/kg, i.p.)-induced liver fibrosis model using Sprague Dawley rats (n = 10) was developed in vivo by injecting TAA twice per week for 13 weeks. ASL (25 and 100 mg/kg) and silymarin (50 mg/kg) were administered through oral gavage 2 times per week from 7th to 13th week. Specific fibrotic-related biomarkers such as aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), glutathione and hydroxyproline levels in serum were analyzed by spectrophotometer using commercial kits. Morphological, histopathological and fibrotic-related gene expression such as TGF-β, Col1α1 and α-SMA in liver tissues was estimated by hematoxylin and eosin staining, Picrosirius red stain and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Results: ASL (0.1 mg/mL) and silymarin (0.05 mg/mL) treatment induced apoptosis (4.06% and 8.67%) in activated HSC-T6 cells, compared with control group (3.7%). The altered morphology in activated primary HSCs was also restored by ASL (0.1 mg/mL) treatment. Further, ASL (100 and 25 mg/kg) ameliorated the TAA-induced altered fibrotic-related biomarkers, histopathological changes and fibrotic-related gene expression significantly (p < 0.05 ∼ p < 0.001). Conclusions: ASL can potentially be developed as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of hepatic fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aronia melanocarpa (A. melanocarpa) berries are a fruit with a marked antioxidant effect. The objective of this study was to confirm the effect of A. melanocarpa berries extract against scopolamine-induced memory impairment in mice using the Morris water maze and passive avoidance test. Moreover, we determined a possible mechanism of the cognitive-enhancing effect involving AChE activity and BDNF and p-CREB expression in the hippocampus of mice. A. melanocarpa berries extract attenuated the learning and memory impairment induced by scopolamine in the Morris water maze (79.3 ± 0.8 s of 200 mg/kg and 64.4 ± 10.7 s of 400 mg/kg on day 4) and passive avoidance tests (46.0 ± 41.1 s of 200 mg/kg and 25.6 ± 18.7 s of 400 mg/kg). A. melanocarpa berries extract reduced the acetylcholinesterase level in the hippocampus of scopolamine-injected mice and increased BDNF and p-CREB expression in the hippocampus. The major compound, cyanidin-3-O-galactoside, also reversed memory impairment. These results showed that A. melanocarpa berries extract improved memory impairment by inhibiting AChE and increasing BDNF and p-CREB expression, and cyanidin-3-O-galactoside may be responsible for the effect of A. melanocarpa berries extract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the neuroprotective effects of Hericium erinaceus mycelium enriched with garlic extract (HGE) on rat pheochromocytoma nerve cells (PC12). The survival rates of the PC12 nerve cells and the neurite-bearing cells after the addition of HGE were estimated as 3.5 × 103 viable cells/ml and 2.3 × 103 viable cells/ml, respectively, which were 50% and 30% higher, respectively, compared with the untreated group. For the in vivo ischemia experiments, after treatment with the HGE extract, the hippocampal CA1 region was more strongly stained (>20%) than the control group, and the HGE extract also promoted higher staining levels than HFB, HM and HGEF, and even the garlic extract. This result indicates that HGE must have neuroprotective effects. Furthermore, HGE greatly decreased p21 gene expression to approximately 70% of the control and decreased p21 gene expression to even lower levels compared with HM, HGEF and the garlic extract. This work suggests that a synergistic effect of the H. erinaceus mycelium and the garlic extract (mainly allicin) exist because the amount of allicin in HGE (5.81 µg/ml) was lower than the garlic extract itself (6.89 µg/ml). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]