Substitution for natural musk in Pien Tze Huang does not affect its hepatoprotective activities

• Published in: Human & experimental toxicology 2004-01, Vol.23 (1), p.35-47
• Main Authors: Chan, W Y, Chau, F-t, Lee, K KH, Kwong, W H, Yew, D T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Carbon Tetrachloride Poisoning - prevention & control; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury - enzymology; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury - pathology; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury - prevention & control; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; Chromatography; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - therapeutic use; Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; Folk medicine; Galactosamine - antagonists & inhibitors; Galactosamine - toxicity; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; General pharmacology; Hepatitis; Liver; Mass spectrometry; Medical sciences; Medicine; Mice; Mice, Inbred ICR; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Scientific imaging; Signal transduction; Toxicology
• ISSN: 0960-3271; 1477-0903
• DOI: 10.1191/0960327104ht414oa

Previous studies showed that Pien Tze Huang, a Chinese folk medicine well known for its therapeutic activity in treating liver diseases, protected the liver against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)–induced damage in mice. In the present study, natural musk, one of the important ingredients of Pien Tze Huang, was replaced by a formulated substitute, and the new formulation of Pien Tze Huang was shown to have similar chromatographic patterns to the original Pien Tze Huang in gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and high performance liquid chromatography. When used in treating mice with CCl4–or galactosamine–induced liver damage, both the original and new formulations of Pien Tze Huang were found to be able to suppress to a similar extent both the histopathological changes in the liver and the elevation of serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate amino–transferase. Necrosis, cellular ballooning, microvesicular steatosis and lymphocytes infiltration were all significantly reduced in the damaged liver. In hepatoma cells, both formulations activated the activator protein 1 (AP1) enhancer sequence, indicating that both of them were able to act through the JNK signal transduction pathway. The results of the present study showed that the substitution for natural musk does not affect the hepatoprotective activities of Pien Tze Huang. It is also postulated that both formulations protect the liver through regulating signal transduction in the cell.