Wall. Ex Lindl. Attenuates CCl-induced Hepatic Damage in Imprinting Control Region Mice

The aim of the present study was to determine the preventive effect of the traditional Chinese medicine, Wall ex Lindl. (), on CCl-induced hepatic damage in mice. The CCl-induced hepatic damage mice were treated with and the serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) were determined. In addition, serum cytokine levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-12, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interferon (IFN)-γ were analyzed with kits, while liver tissues were analyzed using hematoxylin and eosin staining and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Furthermore, the contents of were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). was demonstrated to successfully prevent hepatic damage in mice. The serum levels of AST, ALT and LDH were significantly decreased when the mice were treated with 200 and 400 mg/kg as compared with the control mice (P<0.05). The lowest enzymatic activities were exhibited in the 400 mg/kg group, which produced similar results to the positive control drug, silymarin. In addition, in the 400 mg/kg group, the highest levels of TG and TC were observed among the treated groups. -treated groups also demonstrated reduced levels of the serum proinflammatory cytokines, IL-6, IL-12, TNF-α and IFN-γ. The sections of liver tissue examined during histopathology in the high concentration 400 mg/kg group recovered well from CCl damage; however, the sections in the 200 mg/kg group revealed necrosis to a more serious degree. RT-PCR analysis was conducted on inflammation-associated genes, including nuclear factor (NF)-κB, IκB-α, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase (COX)-2, in the livers of the mice. The 400 mg/kg group demonstrated significantly decreased mRNA expression levels of NF-κB, iNOS and COX-2, but an increased expression level of IκB-α when compared with the CCl-treated control group. Furthermore, using NMR, 11 compounds were identified in the leaf, whose functional contents may aid the preventive effect observed in the current study. Therefore, may potentially contribute to the prevention of CCl-induced hepatic damage .