Abstract

Penta-acetyl geniposide ((Ac)₅GP), an herbal derivative prepared from Gardenia Fructus geniposide, decreased the DNA damage and hepatocarcinogenesis induced by aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). The present study was carried out to further evaluate the protective effect of (Ac)₅GP on liver injury induced by D-galactosamine (D-GalN). D-GalN (400 mg/kg) was given to mice by intraperitoneal injection, while (Ac)₅GP were orally administered by gastric gavage. Spectrophotometrical method was used to measure activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in serum and superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), malondialdehyde (MDA) in hepatic tissue. Hepatic histological structure was observed under light microscopy. The features of acute liver injury were observed in D-GalN-treated mice. (Ac)5GP, similar to silymarin, decreased the elevated serum levels of ALT, AST and MDA and increased the reduced activities of SOD and GSH-Px induced by D-GalN. (Ac)₅GP was also showed to be more effective than GP in reversing these abnormal changes and the levels of (Ac)5GP on MDA and SOD showed a dose-effect relationship. These biochemical observations were also supplemented by histopathological observations of the liver sections. It was concluded from the results that (Ac)₅GP can produce protective effect on acute liver injury induced by D-GalN via an antioxidative mechanism. Therefore, (Ac)₅GP may be developed as an efficient hepato-protective agent.

Keywords:

Antioxidative effect, D-galactosamine, gardenia, liver injury, penta-acetyl geniposide,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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