Effect of dihydromyricetin on hepatic encephalopathy associated with acute hepatic failure in mice

• Published in: Pharmaceutical biology 2021-01, Vol.59 (1), p.555-562
• Main Authors: Cheng, Long, Wang, Xiaoying, Ma, Xueni, Xu, Huimei, Yang, Yifan, Zhang, Dekui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonia; Animal cognition; Animal models; Animals; Brain research; Cognition; cognition functions; Enzymes; Female; Flavonols - pharmacology; Flavonols - therapeutic use; GABAA receptor; Gastroenterology; Glial fibrillary acidic protein; Hepatic encephalopathy; Hepatic Encephalopathy - drug therapy; Hepatic Encephalopathy - metabolism; Hepatic Encephalopathy - pathology; Hippocampus - drug effects; Hippocampus - metabolism; Hippocampus - pathology; Humidity; Interleukin 6; Liver; liver enzymes; Liver failure; Liver Failure, Acute - drug therapy; Liver Failure, Acute - metabolism; Liver Failure, Acute - pathology; Mental disorders; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Prescription drugs; Proteins; Thioacetamide; Treatment Outcome; Tumor necrosis factor-α; γ-Aminobutyric acid A receptors
• ISSN: 1388-0209; 1744-5116
• DOI: 10.1080/13880209.2021.1917625

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a complex neuropsychiatric disease caused by liver failure. Dihydromyricetin (DMY) is a traditional medicine used to treat liver injury. To investigate the effects of dihydromyricetin (DMY) on hepatic encephalopathy associated with acute hepatic failure mice models established by thioacetamide (TAA) exposure. Female BALB/c mouse were randomly divided into control, DMY, TAA, and TAA + DMY groups (n = 8). The first two groups were intraperitoneally injected with saline or 5 mg/kg DMY, respectively. The last two groups were injected with 600 mg/kg TAA to establish HE models, and then the mice in the last group were treated with 5 mg/kg DMY. Neurological and cognition functions were evaluated 24 and 48 h after injection. Mice were sacrificed after which livers and brains were obtained for immunoblot and histopathological analysis, while blood was collected for the analysis of liver enzymes. In the TAA + DMY group, ALT and AST decreased to 145.31 ± 12.88 U/L and 309.51 ± 25.92 U/L, respectively, whereas ammonia and TBIL decreased to 415.67 ± 41.91 μmol/L and 3.31 ± 0.35 μmol/L, respectively. Moreover, MDA decreased to 10.74 ± 3.97 nmol/g, while SOD and GST increased to 398.69 ± 231.30 U/g and 41.37 ± 21.84 U/g, respectively. The neurological score decreased to 2.87 ± 0.63, and the number of GFAP-positive cells decreased to 41.10 ± 1.66. Furthermore, the protein levels of TNF-α, IL-6, and GABA A in the cortex decreased. We speculate that DMY can serve as a novel treatment for HE.