Effect of Acanthopanax koreanum Nakai (Araliaceae) on d-galactosamine and lipopolysaccharide-induced fulminant hepatitis

• Published in: Journal of ethnopharmacology 2004-05, Vol.92 (1), p.71-77
• Main Authors: Nan, Ji-Xing, Park, Eun-Jeon, Nam, Jeong Bum, Zhao, Yu-Zhe, Cai, Xing Fu, Kim, Young Ho, Sohn, Dong Hwan, Lee, Jung-Joon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acanthopanax koreanum; Administration, Oral; Animals; Apoptosis; Apoptosis - drug effects; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury - etiology; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury - prevention & control; DNA Fragmentation - drug effects; Eleutherococcus; Eleutherococcus koreanum; Fulminant hepatitis; Galactosamine; General pharmacology; Hepatocytes - drug effects; hepatoprotective effect; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Lipopolysaccharides; Liver - drug effects; Liver - enzymology; Liver - pathology; Male; Medical sciences; medicinal plants; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Phytotherapy; plant extracts; Plant Extracts - administration & dosage; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plant Extracts - therapeutic use; Plant Roots; Plant Stems; Protective Agents - administration & dosage; Protective Agents - pharmacology; Protective Agents - therapeutic use; traditional medicine; Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - drug effects
• ISSN: 0378-8741; 1872-7573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2004.02.007

The hepatoprotective effects of Acanthopanax koreanum Nakai (Araliaceae) were evaluated in d-galactosamine/lipopolysaccharide-induced fulminant hepatic failure in mouse. Preparations of Acanthopanax koreanum used were an ethanol extract, a water extract, and the ethanol-soluble and ethanol-insoluble components of the water extract of roots or stems of the plant. Mice were pretreated with various extracts by intraperitoneal injection or orally, 12 and 1 h before intraperitoneal injection of d-galactosamine and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Intraperitoneal pretreatment with the water extract or the ethanol-insoluble component of the water extract markedly reduced the elevated levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), reduced the histological changes in the liver, and attenuated hepatocyte apoptosis confirmed by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling method and DNA fragmentation assay. Oral pretreatment with the ethanol-insoluble component of the water extract also reduced serum AST, ALT, and TNF-alpha levels. The present study shows that the ethanol-insoluble component of a water extract from Acanthopanax koreanum has a protective effect against the induction of fulminant hepatitis in mice by d-galactosamine and lipopolysaccharide.