Background: The current study aimed to investigate the hepatoprotective effects of Sasa veitchii extract (SE) on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver fibrosis in mice.
Methods: Male C57BL/6J mice were intraperitoneally injected with CCl4 dissolved in olive oil (1 g/kg) twice per week for 8 weeks. SE (0.1 mL) was administered orally once per day throughout the study, and body weight was measured weekly. Seventy-two hours after the final CCl4 injection, mice were euthanized and plasma samples were collected. The liver and kidneys were collected and weighed.
Results: CCl4 administration increased liver weight, decreased body weight, elevated plasma alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase and increased liver oxidative stress (malondialdehyde and glutathione). These increases were attenuated by SE treatment. Overexpression of tumor necrosis factor-α was also reversed following SE treatment. Furthermore, CCl4-induced increases in α-smooth muscle actin, a marker for hepatic fibrosis, were attenuated in mice treated with SE. Moreover, SE inhibited CCl4-induced nuclear translocation of hepatic nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) p65 and phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK).
Conclusion: These results suggested that SE prevented CCl4-induced hepatic fibrosis by inhibiting the MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways.
Keywords: Carbon tetrachloride; Liver fibrosis; Mitogen-activated protein kinase; Nuclear factor kappa B; Sasa veitchii.