Hepatoprotective Effects of GongJin-dan, on Ethanol-mediated Experimental Liver Damage in Rats

Background : A traditional Oriental medicine, GongJjn-dan (GJD), is one of the most well-known tonic agents in Korea. Among 6 types of GJD components, antler, red ginseng, and Cornus fructus have shown antioxidant effects, while EtOH-induced tissue damage may be a consequence of oxidative stress. Objectives & Methods : The hepatoprotective effects of GJD were evaluated on EtOH-mediated experimental liver damaged rats at 50, 100, 250 and 500mg/kg comparing with 100mg/kg of silymarin as a reference drug in the present study. Test substances were dosed once a day for 60 days with oral administration of 20% ethanol 2.5ml/100g body weight twice a day (equivalent to 7.9g ethanol/kg/day). Each of 8 rats per group was selected using body weight at 10 days after acclimatization. Experimental animals were sacrificed after 60 days of continuous oral treatment of test substances with 20% ethanol treatment, and changes on the body weight, liver weight, and serum AST and ALT were observed. Results : There were dramatic decreases of body weight and increases of liver weight and serum AST and ALT. Similar inhibition effects on the EtOH-induced hepatic damages were detected between equal dosages of GJD and silymarin. Conclusion : Based on these results. it is concluded that GJD showed clear hepatoprotective effects on EtOH-induced hepatic damage.