Fruiting Body of Niuchangchih (Antrodia camphorata) Protects Livers against Chronic Alcohol Consumption Damage

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry 2010-03, Vol.58 (6), p.3859-3866
• Main Authors: Huang, Chia-Hsin, Chang, Yuan-Yen, Liu, Cheng-Wei, Kang, Wen-Yu, Lin, Yi-Ling, Chang, Hsien-Chang, Chen, Yi-Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: acetyl-CoA carboxylase; alcoholic beverages; animal models; Animals; antioxidant activity; Antrodia - chemistry; bile acids; Biological and medical sciences; catalase; cholesteremic effect; cholesterol; Disease Models, Animal; dose response; enzyme activity; fatty liver; Fatty Liver, Alcoholic - drug therapy; Fatty Liver, Alcoholic - prevention & control; fatty-acid synthase; Food industries; fruiting bodies; Fruiting Bodies, Fungal - chemistry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gene expression; gene expression regulation; glutathione; glutathione peroxidase; hepatoprotective effect; human diseases; human nutrition; Humans; hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase; lipid content; liver; Liver - drug effects; low density lipoprotein; Male; malic enzyme; malondialdehyde; Molecular Nutrition; mushrooms; peroxisome proliferator-activated a; Random Allocation; Rats; Rats, Wistar; receptors; silymarin; Silymarin - administration & dosage; sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c; superoxide dismutase; transcription factors
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/jf100530c

An alcoholic fatty liver disease was induced by drinking water containing 20% (w/w) alcohol. Therapeutic groups were orally administrated dosages of 0.25 g silymarin/kg body weight (BW) and a low dosage of Niuchangchih (Antrodia camphorata) (0.025 g/kg BW) and a high dosage of Niuchangchih (0.1 g/kg BW) per day. Niuchangchih, especially at the high dosage, not only showed a hypercholesterolemic effect (p < 0.05) but also reduced (p < 0.05) hepatic lipids in alcohol-fed rats. Those beneficial effects could be partially attributed to higher (p < 0.05) fecal cholesterol and bile acid outputs, as well as downregulations (p < 0.05) of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase, sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, fatty acid synthase, and malic enzyme gene expressions; meanwhile, there was an upregulation of low-density lipoprotein receptor and peroxisome proliferator-activated α gene expression. Besides, Niuchangchih also enhanced (p < 0.05) the liver glutathione, Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity, and activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase and decreased the liver malondialdehyde content, which also partially contributed to the lowered (p < 0.05) serum aspartate aminotransferase levels and no observed lesion in the histological examination of alcohol-fed rats.