Hepatoprotective Effect of Cuscuta campestris Yunck. Whole Plant on Carbon Tetrachloride Induced Chronic Liver Injury in Mice

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2016-12, Vol.17 (12), p.2056-2056
• Main Authors: Peng, Wen-Huang, Chen, Yi-Wen, Lee, Meng-Shiou, Chang, Wen-Te, Tsai, Jen-Chieh, Lin, Ying-Chih, Lin, Ming-Kuem
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alanine Transaminase - blood; Animals; antioxidant effect; Antioxidants - chemistry; Antioxidants - therapeutic use; Aspartate Aminotransferases - blood; Carbon; carbon tetrachloride; Carbon Tetrachloride Poisoning; Catalase - metabolism; Cuscuta; Cuscuta - chemistry; Cuscuta campestris; fibrosis; Flowers & plants; Glutathione - metabolism; Glutathione Peroxidase - metabolism; hepatoprotective effect; Lipid Peroxidation - drug effects; Liver; Liver - drug effects; Liver - injuries; Liver - metabolism; Male; Malondialdehyde - metabolism; Mice; Oxidative Stress - drug effects; Plant Extracts - chemistry; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Rodents; Seeds; Seeds - chemistry; Superoxide Dismutase - metabolism
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms17122056

Cuscuta seeds and whole plant have been used to nourish the liver and kidney. This study was aimed to investigate the hepatoprotective activity of the ethanol extract of Yunck. whole plant (CC ). The hepatoprotective effect of CC (20, 100 and 500 mg/kg) was evaluated on carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)-induced chronic liver injury. Serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, triglyceride and cholesterol were measured and the fibrosis was histologically examined. CC exhibited a significant inhibition of the increase of serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, triglyceride and cholesterol. Histological analyses showed that fibrosis of liver induced by CCl₄ were significantly reduced by CC . In addition, 20, 100 and 500 mg/kg of the extract decreased the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and enhanced the activities of anti-oxidative enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GRd) in the liver. We demonstrate that the hepatoprotective mechanisms of CC were likely to be associated to the decrease in MDA level by increasing the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as SOD, GPx and GRd. In addition, our findings provide evidence that Yunck. whole plant possesses a hepatoprotective activity to ameliorate chronic liver injury.