Ethnopharmacological relevance: Prunella vulgaris L. (PVL) is a perennial herb belonging to the Labiate family, first recorded in the "Shen Nong's Classic of the Materia Medica". PVL can enter the liver and gallbladder channel to show its function in clearing the liver fire, dispersing nodules, dissolving swelling, and improving vision. The traditional use of PVL is to protect liver function and has clinical applications in liver diseases therapy. The modern pharmacological studies have been shown to possess potential hepatoprotection, but its underlying mechanisms against alcoholic liver disease (ALD) in mice remains to be elucidated.
Aim of the study: This study aimed to explore the protective effect and potential mechanism of PVL on alcohol induced liver injury.
Materials and methods: We used Lieber-DeCarli ethanol liquid diet fed Male C57BL/6 mice for four weeks plus a single binge (NIAAA modified model) to establish an ALD model and explored the protective effects of PVL extract against ALD. Western blot, Flow cytometry and RT-qPCR methods were used to detect lipid metabolism disorders and the inflammatory response induced by macrophages in ALD mice, and the gut microbiota composition changes were detected by 16s rRNA to reveal the potential mechanism of PVL against ALD.
Results: In ALD mice, PVL can ameliorate excessive alcohol intake-induced liver injury and lipid metabolism disorders associated with improvement of gut microbiota dysbiosis and intestinal barrier damage. PVL reduced the translocation of endotoxin, which subsequently inhibits hepatic inflammation mediated by the TLR4/MyD88 signaling pathway.
Conclusion: These findings demonstrated the protective potential of PVL against gut dysbiosis and endotoxin leakage in ALD mice, which provides a theoretical basis for PVL against liver diseases.
Keywords: Alcoholic liver disease; Hepatic inflammation; Lipopolysaccharides; Prunella vulgaris L.; gut dysbiosis.
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