Preventive Effect of Alkaloids from Lotus plumule on Acute Liver Injury in Mice

Bihui Liu; Ji Li; Ruokun Yi; Jianfei Mu; Xianrong Zhou; Xin Zhao

doi:10.3390/foods8010036

Preventive Effect of Alkaloids from Lotus plumule on Acute Liver Injury in Mice

Foods. 2019 Jan 19;8(1):36. doi: 10.3390/foods8010036.

Authors

Bihui Liu^{1

2

3

4}, Ji Li⁵, Ruokun Yi^{6

7

8}, Jianfei Mu⁹, Xianrong Zhou¹⁰, Xin Zhao^{11

12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Chongqing Collaborative Innovation Center for Functional Food, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, China. liubh@foods.ac.cn.
² Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Functional Food, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, China. liubh@foods.ac.cn.
³ Chongqing Engineering Laboratory for Research and Development of Functional Food, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, China. liubh@foods.ac.cn.
⁴ College of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, China. liubh@foods.ac.cn.
⁵ College of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, China. liji@foods.ac.cn.
⁶ Chongqing Collaborative Innovation Center for Functional Food, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, China. yirk@cque.edu.cn.
⁷ Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Functional Food, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, China. yirk@cque.edu.cn.
⁸ Chongqing Engineering Laboratory for Research and Development of Functional Food, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, China. yirk@cque.edu.cn.
⁹ Chongqing Collaborative Innovation Center for Functional Food, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, China. mujianfei@foods.ac.cn.
¹⁰ Chongqing Collaborative Innovation Center for Functional Food, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, China. zhouxr@foods.ac.cn.
¹¹ Chongqing Collaborative Innovation Center for Functional Food, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, China. zhaoxin@cque.edu.cn.
¹² Chongqing Engineering Research Center of Functional Food, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, China. zhaoxin@cque.edu.cn.
¹³ Chongqing Engineering Laboratory for Research and Development of Functional Food, Chongqing University of Education, Chongqing 400067, China. zhaoxin@cque.edu.cn.

Abstract

Lotus plumule is a traditional Chinese food that can be used as a beverage. In this study, three kinds of Lotus plumules from different regions of China were selected to observe the preventive effects of extracted alkaloids on CCl₄-induced liver injuries. Animal experiments revealed that alkaloids extracted from Lotus plumules decreased the serum AST (aspartate aminotransferase), ALT (alanine aminotransferase), and TBIL (total bilirubin) levels, enhanced SOD (superoxide dismutase) activity, and reduced MDA (malondialdehyde) level in the liver tissues of mice with liver injury. H&E observation confirmed that alkaloids from Lotus plumules could alleviate CCl₄-induced injuries of liver tissues and inhibit the inflammatory effect on hepatocytes. Further qPCR experiments also demonstrated that alkaloids from Lotus plumules upregulated the expression of IκB-α (inhibitor of NF-κB alpha), Cu/Zn-SOD (copper/zinc superoxide dismutase), Mn-SOD (manganese superoxide dismutase), and CAT (catalase) mRNA and downregulated TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor alpha) and NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa B) expression in the liver tissues of mice with liver injury. All three kinds of alkaloids from Lotus plumules could prevent CCl₄-induced liver injuries by regulating the levels of oxidative stress and inflammation in mice, and the therapeutic effect was comparable to that of silymarin, the medicine commonly used in the treatment of liver diseases. In summary, alkaloids from Lotus plumules contain bioactive substances with hepatic protective efficacy and possess potential application value in the field of functional food.

Keywords: Lotus plumule; antioxidant; gene; liver injury; mice.