• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.69-77
• /
• 1993

In the present study, the comparison of liver damage in carbon tetrachloride (CCl$_4$)-treated rats with that those pretreated with ethanol and an effect of liver injury on the serum and liver xanthine oxidase (XOD) activity were evaluated. The increasing rate of liver weight per body wt., the levels of serum alanine aminotransferase, and the decreasing rate of hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase activity and the protein contents in the liver cell were higher in carbon tetrachloride-treated animals pretreated with ethanol than the carbon tetrachloride-treated group. Especially, the histopathological findings also showed more severe liver damage in the ethanol-pretreated rats than the rats treated with carbon tetrachloride only. In such a experimental condition the xanthine oxidase activity of serum and liver both of carbon tetrachloride-treated rats and those pretreated with ethanol were higher than that of each control group. And the increasing rate of xanthine oxidase enzyme activity to the control group was higher in carbon tetrachloride-treated group pretreated with ethanol than those treated with CCl$_4$. In addition, the heptic uricase activity and the serum levels of uric acid were more increased in carbon tetrachloride-treated group pretreated with ethanol than those in the CCl$_4$-treated rats. On the other hand, there were no statistical differences in hepatic catalase and glutathione S-transferase activities between the CCl$_4$-treated rats and those pretreated with ethanol. In conclusion, it is assumed that the more severe liver damage in ethanol pretreated rats would be due to oxygen free radical produced by the xanthine oxidase system.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.16 no.1 s.29
• /
• pp.209-226
• /
• 1995

In order to investigate the protective effects of Jiyusaenggan-Tang by F-I(Jiyusaenggan-Tang aspirated by distilled water), F-II(Non-polysaccharides in Jiyusaenggan-Tang) and F-III(Polysaccharides in Jiyusaenggan-Tang), experimental studies were performed in mice with liver injury induced by $CCI_4$, and d-galactosamine. The results were summarized as follows : 1. The increases of the serum GOT activities in mice induced by $CCI_4$ were inhibited significantly by the administration of highly concentrated FIII. The increases of the serum GPT, LDH, and ALP activities in mice induced by $CCI_4$ were inhibited significantly by the administration of highly concentrated FI and FIII. 2. The increases of the serum total-cholesterol and triglyceride activities in mice induced by $CCI_4$ were inhibited significantly by the administration of highly concentrated FI, FII and FIII. 3. On liver injury induced by the $CCI_4$, the activities of GOT, GPT, ALP, LDH were inhibited by highly concentrated FIII, F-I, F-II, and F-I, F-II, F-III on total cholesterol level and F-III, F-I, F-II on triglyceride level in order of their efficacies. And F-III is considered to be the most effective component. 4. The increases of the serum GOT, GPT activities in mice induced by d-galactosamine were inhibited significantly by the administration of FI and FIII. The increases of the serum LDH, ALP activities in mice induced by d-galactosamine were inhibited significantly by the administration of FI and FIII. 5. The increases of the serum Total-cholesterol, Triglyceride activities in mice induced by d-galactosamine were inhibited significantly by the administration of FI, FII and FIII. 6. The increases of the serum GOT, GPT activities in mice induced by d-galactosamine were inhibited significantly in F-III administrated group and then F-I in order of efficacies. FII does not showed significant effect, on inhibiting the activities of serum GOT and GPT levels. The activity of ALP was inhibited by F-III, F-I, F-II, LDH by F-III, F-I in order of efficacies, and F-II did not showed significant effect on LDH activity. The triglyceride level was decreased significantly by F-III, F-II, F-I and the total cholesterol level by F-II, F-I, F-III in order of their efficacies. Judging from the above results, it is considered that Jiyusaenggan-Tang has protective effect against liver injury, and that Polysaccharides in Jiyusaenggan-Tang is more effective.

• Nutritional Sciences
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.106-111
• /
• 2006

Chronic alcohol consumption is associated with perturbation of hepatic metabolism of sulphur-containing amino acid. The goal of present study was to evaluate the influence of dietary supplementation of methionine or folate to chronically ethanol-fed mts on the metabolism of sulfur-containing amino acids and one-carbon metabolism. Sprague-Dawley male mts were fed Lieber-Decarli liquid diet with 0% ethanol (control), 36% ethanol (E), 36% ethanol combined with methionine supplement (EM) or folate supplement (EF) for 8 weeks. Hepatic S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) and S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH), plasma folate and homocysteine (Hcy), urinary excretion of folate and formiminoglutamate were investigated after feeding experimental diets. Growth was retarded by 36% ethanol consupmtion (E, EM and EF) (p<0.01). Liver total fat (p<0.05) and plasma ALT (P<0.01) were increased by methionine supplementation (EM), implicating fatty liver and liver injury. Liver folate was increased slightly by folate supplementation (EF) (p=0.077). Urinary folate loss was increased 2.3 fold by ethanol consumption (E) and 17.2 fold by folate supplementation (EF), while decreased by methionine supplementation (EM) (p<0.000l). Plasma Hcy was increased 1.9 fold by methionine supplementation (EM) in ethanol-fed mts (p<0.05), which was related with decreased methionine synthase activity (p<0.05). Hepatic SAM/SAH ratio was depressed by methionine supplementation in ethanol-fed mts (EM) (p<0.05). Urinary formininoglutamate (Figlu) excretion after histidine loading was increased by ethanol ingestion and reduced by methionine supplementation (p<0.00l). Based on these data, methionine supplementation appears to accelerate histidine oxidation. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of methionine to ethanol-fed mts exacerbates alcoholic liver injury possibly by complicating sulphur-containing amino acid metabolism, as while it may have beneficial effects on folate and histidine metabolism.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.1415-1423
• /
• 2007

Carbon tetrachloride ($CCl_4$)-induced liver injury depends on a toxic agent that has to be metabolized by the liver NAPDH-cytochrome P450 enzyme system to a highly reactive intermediate. Alternations in the activity of cytochrome P450 enzymes affect the susceptibility to hepatic injury from $CCl_4$. In this study, we evaluated the potential protective activity of the traditional Korean medicinal herb, Corni fructus (CF), against an experimental model of hepatotoxicity induced by $CCl_4$. The CF exhibited a hepatoprotective activity against $CCl_4-induced$ liver damage in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, as measured by GOT, GPT, ALP and histological observation. The CF also showed significant decrease of malodialdehyde (MDA) and increase of glutathion (GSH), catalase activity in rat liver homogenate. In addition, the expression of CYP2E1, as measured by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis, was significantly decreased in the liver of CF treated SD rats. But $CCl_4$ and CF has no significant effect on 1A1 and 3A1 isoform of cytochrome P450. Based on these findings, it is suggested that hepatoprotective effects of CF possibly related to antioxidative effects and regulation of CYP2E1 expression.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.112-121
• /
• 2017

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the serious and fatal drug-associated adverse effect, but its incidence is very low and individual variation in severity is substantial. Acetaminophen (APAP)-induced liver injury accounts for >50% of reported DILI cases but little is known for the cause of individual variations in the severity. Intrinsic genetic variation is considered a key element but the identity of the genes was not well-established. Here, pre-biopsy method and microarray technique was applied to uncover the key genes for APAP-induced liver injury in mice, and a cause and effect experiment employing quantitative real-time PCR was conducted to confirm the correlation between the uncovered genes and APAP-induced hepatotoxicity. We identified the innately and differentially expressed genes of mice susceptible to APAP-induced hepatotoxicity in the pre-biopsied liver tissue before APAP treatment through microarray analysis of the global gene expression profiles (Affymetrix $GeneChip^{(R)}$ Mouse Gene 1.0 ST for 28,853 genes). Expression of 16 genes including Gdap10, Lpl, Gabra3 and Ccrn4l were significantly different (t-test: FDR <10%) more than 1.5 fold in the susceptible animals than resistant. To confirm the association with the susceptibility to APAP-induced hepatotoxicity, another set of animals were measured for the expression level of selected 4 genes (higher two and lower two genes) in the liver pre-biopsy and their sensitivity to APAP-induced hepatotoxicity was evaluated by post hoc. Notably, the expressions of Gabra3 and Lpl were significantly correlated with the severity of liver injury (p<0.05) demonstrating that these genes may be linked to the susceptibility to APAP-induced hepatotoxicity.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.138-143
• /
• 2008

We investigated if Chlorella vulgaris (CV) has protective effects on cadmium (Cd) induced liver damage in male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Forty rats, aged 5 weeks old and weighed 90-110g, were divided into a control (with Cd free water), 50 ppm of $CdCl_2$ in drinking water treated groups (Chlorella 0% diet group (Cd/CV0%), Chlorella 5% diet group (Cd/CV5%) or Chlorella 10% diet group (Cd/CV10%). All the rats had freely access to water and diet for 8 weeks. The results show that body weight gain and relative liver weight had significantly lower in Cd/CV0%-treated group than in Cd/CV-treated groups. Hepatic Cd contents showed significantly less by feeding CV (P<0.05). Cd/CV0%-treated rats had significantly (P<0.05) higher hepatic T-MTs, and Cd-MTs concentrations, compared to Cd/CV5% or Cd/CV10% treated rats. The MT I/II mRNA was expressed in the liver of all experimental rats. Its expression was more increased in Cd/CV5%- or Cd/CV10%-treated rats, compared to control and Cd-treated rats. Thus, this study suggested that CV would have a protective effect on Cd-treated liver injury by the reduction of Cd concentrations and stimulation of Cd-MT binds in the liver. However, more studies are needed to identify the proper mechanism of CV and liver toxicity.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.34-39
• /
• 2012

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the safety and the efficacy of Korean herbal, western and combination medicine use in patients with abnormal liver function tests. Methods: We investigated nerve disease patients with abnormal liver function tests who were treated with Korean herbal, western and combination medicine at Dong-Eui University Oriental Hospital from January 2011 to August 2011. We compared aspartic aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and total bilirubin (T-bil) levels before and after taking medicine and excluded patients who had liver-related disease when admitted. Results: AST and ALT were decreased significantly in patients who had taken herbal, western medicine. AST, ALT and ALP were decreased significantly in patients who had taken combination medicine. Compare to herbal medicine, AST, ALT and ALP were decreased significantly in patients who had taken western medicine, and ALT and ALP were decreased significantly in patients who had taken combination medicine. There were no significant differences between western and combination medicine. Conclusions: This study suggests that prescribed Korean herbal medicine, at least, does not injure liver function for patients', moreover, it was shown to be effective in patients with abnormal liver function tests.

• Biomedical Science Letters
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.101-107
• /
• 2000

To evaluate the effect of intervals of bromobenzene treatment on the liver damage, the bromobenzene (400 mg/kg, i.p.) was given to rats at either one day or two days interval at three times. All the experimental animals were sacrificed at 24 hours after the last injection. Liver morphological changes were observed under a light microscopic examination and liver functional changes were determined by the measurement of alaine aminotransferase (ALT) activity and hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) content. The experimental to examine the cause of liver damage were cytochrome P45O, glutathione (GSH) content and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities. The results are summarized as follows; Based on the liver morphological and functional findings, the daily bromobenzene-treated rats (ED) showed the more severe liver damage than every other day bromobenzene-treated rats (EOD). The hepatic cytochrome P45O content was higher in EOD group than that in ED group. And the increasing rate of hepatic GST activity and decreasing rate of GSH content to the control were higher in EOD group than that in ED group. In conclusion, the treatment of bromobenzene intermittently to the rats may lead to more reduced liver injury compared with the continuously treated animals when both cases are treated with the same dose and frequency, and it may be caused by the enhancement of bromobenzene metabolism.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.87-95
• /
• 1995

The concentrations of cadmium, metallothionein(MT), superoxide dismutase(SOD), and lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) were investigated in liver and kidney of rats which were fed the water containing 100 ppm cadmium chloride with basal diet and 5% Agaricus bisporus diet during 16 weeks. Cadmium concentrations in liver and kidney increased during 16 weeks, and there were significantly higher accumulation of cadmium in the kidney than in the liver. The concentrations of MTs in liver and kidney decreased linearly during 16 weeks, but there was no significant difference between control and experimental group. MT concentrations of liver were significantly higher than those of kidney. The superoxide dismutase activities and lactate dehydrogenase activities were not affected by the diet, but there was a significant difference by the duration of administration. These data indicate that the kidney is a major target organ of chronic cadmium poisoning, and suggest that Cd-induced hepatic injury, via release of Cd-MT, may play an important role in the nephrotoxicity. In conclusion, induction of MT occurs in both the liver and the kidney after administration of $CdCl_2$. However, the kidney is less responsive than the liver to the induction of MT by cadmium, which may contribute to making the kidney the target organ of toxicity during chronic Cd exposure.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.133-137
• /
• 2004

Present review is built on base of research work on Ganoderma lucidum in our laboratory. A great deal of experimental evidence has suggested that the pharmacological activities of Ganoderma lucidum (Lingzhi) are related to anti-oxidative and free radical scavenging activity. The anti-oxidative and free radical scavenging effects of polysaccharides and triterpenoids isolated from Ganoderma lucidum in different oxidative injury models including tert-butylhydroperoxide (tBOOH)- damaged mice peritoneal macrophages, alloxan-induced diabetes, experimental liver injury models induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), D-galactosamine (DGal) and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) plus lipopolysaccharides (LPS) were investigated. It is also demonstrated that Lugu lingzhi, one of Ganoderma product, significantly inhibited LDL oxidation mediated by endothelial cells and decreased monocyte adhesion to endothelial cell (EC) induced by Oxidative low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) and advanced glycation endproducts (AGE). Lugulingzhi-treated serum could markedly inhibit the expression of intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-l) induced by ox-LDL and AGE.