Search

Acute liver injury is a common consequence of taking overdose of acetaminophen (APAP). The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant activity and hepatoprotective effect of a mangrove plant Sonneratia apetala fruit extract (SAFE) on APAP-induced liver injury in mice. Mice were orally pretreated with SAFE (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg) daily for one week. The control and APAP groups were intragastrically administered with distilled water, and NAC group was treated with N-Acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) before APAP exposure. The results manifested that SAFE significantly improved survival rates, attenuated hepatic histological damage, and decreased the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels in serum in APAP-exposed mice. SAFE treatment also increased glutathione (GSH) level and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity, enhanced catalase (CAT), and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), as well as reducing malondialdehyde (MDA) level in liver. In addition, the formation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and elevation of myeloperoxidase (MPO) in APAP-exposed mice were inhibited after SAFE treatment. And SAFE also displayed high DPPH radical scavenging activity and reducing power in vitro. The main bioactive components of SAFE such as total phenol, flavonoid, condensed tannin, and carbohydrate were determined. The current study proved that SAFE exerted potential protective effect against APAP-induced acute liver injury, which might be associated with the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of SAFE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the role of IL-28B and CK-18 M30 in the diagnosis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in rats. The rat NASH model was constructed by high-fat diet feeding and confirmed by liver tissue pathology analysis. The CK-18 M30, IL-28B, liver function and blood lipid were detected. The pathology of liver tissues was observed by H&E staining. The ROC curves of liver pathological scores, IL-28B, and CK-18 M30 were plotted and the sensitivity/specificity of each index was calculated. The liver tissue pathology at the end of the 12th week met NASH diagnostic criteria. The liver pathological scores of NASH model were higher than those of the control group (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the body weight of rats in the NASH group was lower (P < 0.05) and the liver index was higher (P < 0.05). Moreover, the serum levels of alanine aminotransferase, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol and CK-18 M30 in the NASH group were higher (P < 0.05) and positively correlated with liver pathological scores (P < 0.05), but IL-28B in serum and liver tissue was lower (P < 0.05) and negatively correlated with liver pathological scores (P < 0.05). According to the ROC curves, the sensitivity/specificity of each index was shown as following: liver pathological scores (1.000/1.000), IL-28B of liver tissue (1.000/0.857), serum CK-18 M30 plus IL-28B (0.857/1.000), serum IL-28B (0.857/0.857) and serum CK-18 M30 (1.000/0.857). IL-28B level is related to the pathological changes of livers in SD rats during the development of NASH. The combination of serum CK-18 M30 level and serum IL-28B level may be a promising non-invasive detection method for the diagnosis of NASH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]