• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.931-939
• /
• 2017

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a complex multifaceted disease that involves oxidative stress and inflammation as the key mediators. Despite decades of intensive research, there are no FDA-approved therapies, and/or no effective cure is yet available. Probiotics have received increasing attention in the past few years due to their well-documented gastrointestinal health-promoting effects. Interestingly, emerging studies have suggested that certain probiotics may offer benefits beyond the gut. Lactobacillus fermentum LA12 has been previously demonstrated to play a role in inflammatory-related disease. However, the possible protective effect of L. fermentum LA12 on ALD still remain to be explored. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the possible protective effect of L. fermentum LA12 on alcohol-induced gut barrier dysfunction and liver damage in a rat model of alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH). Daily oral administration of L. fermentum LA12 in rat model of ASH for four weeks was shown to significantly reduced intestinal nitric oxide production and hyperpermeability. Moreover, small intestinal histological- and qRT-PCR analysis further revealed that L. fermentum LA12 treatment was capable of up-regulating the mRNA expression levels of tight junction proteins, thereby stimulating the restitution of barrier structure and function. Serum and hepatic analyses also revealed that the restoration of epithelial barrier function may prevent the leakage of endotoxin into the blood, subsequently improve liver function and hepatic steatosis in the L. fermentum LA12-treated rats. Altogether, results in this study suggest that L. fermentum LA12 may be used as a dietary adjunct for the prevention and treatment of ASH.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.647-658
• /
• 1993

The susceptibilities of aldehyde dehydrogenase (AldDH) and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) to active oxygen generated by xanthine-xanthine oxidase (XOD) system were studied. Incubation of AldDH with 2$\times$10$^{-3}$ units of XOD for 30 min at $25^{\circ}C$ resulted in the decrease of enzyme activity to 30% and it was inactivated completely when incubated with 5$\times$10$^{-3}$ units of XOD. Whereas 70% of ADH activity was retained after exposure to 5$\times$10$^{-3}$ units of XOD for 30 min, 40% of ADH activity was retained after exposure to 5$\times$10$^{-2}$ unit of XOD for 30 min. This inhibition effect by the active oxygen was preventable by catalase and glutathione, but not by SOD. The rates of the NADPH-dependent oxygen consumption by the liver S-9 mixture and microsomes were also determined in this study. Rate of oxygen consumption is increased in the liver S-9 mix and microsomes from phenobarbital-treated rat, and it was consistent with increased lipid peroxidation. In the presense of ethanol as a substrate, the oxygen consumption rates were increased. It is reported that hepatic AldDH activity is depressed in alcoholic liver diseases, however there is few report that explains the reason of depressed AldDH activity. These results are supportive of the theory that the increase in hepatic ethanol oxidation through the induced ME activity after chronic ethanol feeding generate oxygen radical at elevated rates and it leads to the depression of AldDH activity.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.38 no.3
• /
• pp.167-172
• /
• 2014

Background: Roles of immune reaction and toll-like receptor-4 (TLR-4) have widely been established in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Methods: We evaluated the biologic efficacy of Korean Red Ginseng (KRG), urushiol, and probiotics (Lactobacillus rhamnosus R0011 and Lactobacillus acidophilus R0052) in mouse models of ALD. Sixty C57BL/6 mice were equally divided into six feeding groups for 10 weeks: normal diet, alcohol, control, alcohol + KRG, alcohol + urushiol, and alcohol + probiotics. Alcohol was administered via a LiebereDeCarli liquid diet containing 10% alcohol. TLR-4 expression, proinflammatory cytokines, and histology, as well as the results of liver function tests were evaluated and compared. Results: No between-group differences were observed with regard to liver function. TLR-4 levels were significantly lower in the KRG, urushiol, and probiotics groups than in the alcohol group ($0.37{\pm}0.06ng/mL$, $0.39{\pm}0.12ng/mL$, and $0.33{\pm}0.07ng/mL$, respectively, vs. $0.88{\pm}0.31ng/mL$; p < 0.05). Interleukin-$1{\beta}$ levels in liver tissues were decreased among the probiotics and KRG groups. The tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ level of liver tissue was decreased in the KRG group. Conclusion: The pathological findings showed that alcohol-induced steatosis was significantly reduced by KRG and urushiol. As these agents improve immunologic capacity, they may be considered in potential anti-ALD treatments.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.611-616
• /
• 2013

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality around the world. Although much progress has been made in understanding the pathogenesis of ALD, there remains no effective therapy for it. Accumulated evidence indicates that oxidative stress is the main pathological factors in the development of ALD. Ethanol administration causes accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), including superoxide, hydroxyl radical, and hydrogen peroxide. ROS, in turn, cause lipid peroxidation of cellular membranes, and protein and DNA oxidation, which results in hepatocyte injury. In addition to pro-oxidants formation, antioxidants depletion caused by ethanol administration also results in oxidative stress. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of Shiryung-tang extract on the chronic alcoholic liver injury induced by EtOH. Male Sprague Dawley rats were used in this study. All rats were maintained under standard laboratory conditions ($23{\pm}1^{\circ}C$, 12h light/12h dark cycles). All animals (n=30) were randomly divided into following groups: (1) Normal group, treated with distilled water (n=10); (2) Control group, treated with ethanol (n=10); (3) Sample group, treated with ethanol + pharmacopuncture (n=10). For oral administration of ethanol in Control and Sample group, the ethanol was dissolved in distilled water in concentrations of 25%(v/v). Throughout the experiment of 8 week, the rats were allowed free access to water and standard chow. Sample group were administrated by Shiryung-tang extract daily for 8 weeks. Control group were given normal saline for same weeks. As a results, the oral administration of ethanol for 8 weeks leads to hepatotoxicity. The levels of hepatic marker such as HDL-cholesterol, triglyceride, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were altered. The ethanol also increased lipid peroxidation and depletion of antioxidant enzyme activities as well as hepatic tissue injury. However, the treatment of Shiryung-tang extract prevented all the alterations induced by ethanol and returned their levels to near normal. These data suggest that Shiryung-tang extract could have a beneficial effect in inhibiting the oxidative damage induced by chronic ethanol administration. Therefore, Shiryung-tang extract can be a candidate to protect against EtOH-induced liver injury.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
• /
• 2005.05a
• /
• pp.204-204
• /
• 2005

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.358-366
• /
• 2012

Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules leading to loss of liver function. Liver Cirrhosis is most commonly caused by alcoholism, hepatitis B and C, and fatty liver disease, but has many other possible causes. Some cases are idiopathic disease from unknown cause. Abdomen of liver Computed tomography(CT) is one of the primary imaging procedures for evaluating liver disease such as liver cirrhosis, Alcoholic liver disease(ALD), cancer, and interval changes because it is economical and easy to use. The purpose of this study is to detect technique for computer-aided diagnosis(CAD) to identify liver cirrhosis in abdomen CT. We experimented on the principal components analysis(PCA) algorithm in the other method and suggested texture information analysis(TIA). Forty clinical cases involving a total of 634 CT sectional images were used in this study. Liver cirrhosis was detected by PCA method(detection rate of 35%), and by TIA methods(detection rate of 100%-AGI, TM, MU, EN). Our present results show that our method can be regarded as a technique for CAD systems to detect liver cirrhosis in CT liver images.

• Journal of Life Science
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.183-190
• /
• 2023

Red yeast rice, also known as Hong Qu and red Koji, has been used for a long time in Asian functional food and traditional medicine. It consists of multiple bioactive substances, which can potentially be used as nutraceuticals. Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) can range from simple steatosis or inflammation to fibrosis and cirrhosis, possibly through leaky gut and systemic endotoxemia. This study examined the liver and gut effects of red yeast rice (RYR) (Monascus purpureus) ethanol extract against binge ethanol-induced liver injury in mice. RYR extract was orally administered to C57BL/6N mice at a concentration of 200 mg/kg body weight per day for 10 days. Then, mice were administered binge alcohol (5 g/kg/dose) three times at 12 hr intervals. Binge alcohol exposure significantly elevated the endotoxin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine transaminase (ALT) activity of plasma, as well as hepatic triglyceride levels; however, RYR treatments reduced these levels. In addition, RYR pretreatment significantly reduced the alcohol-induced oxidative maker protein and apoptosis maker in binge alcohol-induced gut and liver injuries. These results suggest that RYR may prevent alcohol-induced acute leaky gut and liver damage.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.120-129
• /
• 2024

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a significant risk factor in the global disease burden. The stem bark of the Betulaceae plant Alnus japonica, which is indigenous to Korea, has been used as a popular folk medicine for hepatitis and cancer. However, the preventive effect of Alnus japonica leaf extracts on alcohol-related liver damage has not been investigated. The objective of this study was to investigate the hepatoprotective effects of the extracts of Alnus japonica leaf (AJL) against ethanol-induced liver damage in HepG2/2E1 cells. Treatment with AJL significantly prevented ethanol-induced cytotoxicity in HepG2/2E1 cells by reducing the levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). This protective effect was likely associated with antioxidant potential of AJL, as evidenced by the attenuation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) production and restoration of the depleted glutathione (GSH) levels in ethanol-induced HepG2/2E1 cells. Our findings suggest that FCC might be considered as a useful agent in the prevention of liver damage induced by oxidative stress by increasing the antioxidant defense mechanism.