L-tryptophan administration promotes the reversion of pre-established chronic liver injury in rats treated with carbon tetrachloride

Investigation of the mechanism of incompatible herb pair gansui-gancao-induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity and the attenuated effect of gansuibanxia decoction by UHPLC-FT-ICR-MS-based plasma metabonomic analysis

Gansui-Gancao is one of the "eighteen incompatible herb pairs" which was recorded 2000 years ago according to TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) theory for their toxicity when using together. Nevertheless, Gansuibanxia decoction contained the herb pair have satisfactory effect on the treatment of cancerous ascites, pericardial effusion, etc. The present study aimed to investigate the mechanism of the incompatibility of Gansui-Gancao and the compatibility of Gansuibanxia decoction using UHPLC-FT-ICR-MS in a metabonomic perspective. Rats were divided into four groups administrated with different herb combination extracts for successive 14 days. Orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was used to plot the metabolic state and screen the potential biomarkers in plasma. A total of 20 biomarkers contributed to the separation of Gansui-Gancao group and control group were tentatively identified mainly involved in 7 metabolic pathways related to hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. The contents of these biomarkers were adjusted to normal levels in Gansuibanxia decoction group. Thus, the results of our study reveled the mechanism of the incompatibility of Gansui-Gancao and the compatibility of Gansuibanxia decoction in a metabonomic perspective and it's valuable for better understanding the "eighteen incompatible madicaments" of TCM theory.

Icariin-treated human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells decrease chronic liver injury in mice

Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUMSCs) have been shown to have multiple differentiation potentials. However, a key problem is that only a small number of hUMSCs can migrate to damaged tissue after transplantation. According to "The Theory of Kidney Essence" in Traditional Chinese Medicine, some traditional Chinese medicines used for tonifying the kidneys can be applied in promoting the differentiation and migration of stem cells in vivo. Our previous study demonstrated that icariin (ICA) could up-regulate the pluripotent genes of hUMSCs in vitro and induce cell migration in mice in an acute kidney injury model in vivo. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ICA-induced hUMSCs in chronic liver injury (CLI) caused by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). CLI was induced by intraperitoneal injection of CCl4. ICA-treated hUMSCs were transplanted via intra-venous injection. The animals were followed for survival, biochemistry analysis and pathology. The results show that ICA-treated hUMSCs accelerate the recovery of liver function in mice with CLI. In addition, ICA-treated hUMSCs increase the anti-oxidant activities in liver and prevent the progression to hepatic fibrosis. Moreover, ICA induces the migration of hUMSCs to the injured liver tissue. In conclusion, these data demonstrate that ICA-treated hUMSCs exhibit recovery and protective properties in the mice model of CCl4-induced CLI.

Recombinant bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor protects the liver from carbon tetrachloride-induced chronic injury in rats

CONTEXT

Bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) has been reported to relieve liver ischemia-reperfusion-induced injury in rats.

OBJECTIVE

This study was designed to determine whether the recombinant BPTI (rBPTI) can prevent the chronic liver injury induced by CCl4 in rats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Fifty male Wistar rats were divided into five groups. Rats were treated with 40% CCl4 at a dose of 2 ml/kg body weight twice a week subcutaneously for 12 weeks. In the 8th week, they were administered intraperitoneally with rBPTI (80 MU/kg), BPTI (80 MU/kg) or hepatocyte growth-promoting factor (pHGF; 100 mg/kg) daily for the next 4 weeks.

RESULTS

rBPTI significantly prevented the disruption of liver function of alanine aminotransferase (ALT; 172.7 ± 18.16 versus 141.2 ± 15.28, p=0.003), aspartate aminotransferase (AST; 225.10 ± 36.54 versus 170.06 ± 27.14, p=0.007) and hydroxyproline (Hyp; 1.14 ± 0.27 versus 0.62 ± 0.17, p=0.001). rBPTI significantly decreased the level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS; 1.15 ± 0.16 versus 0.87 ± 0.15, p=0.003) and increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD; 6.07 ± 0.95 versus 7.75 ± 1.12, p=0.007). rBPTI reduced the production of cytokines of IL-1β and TGF-β. The hepatocyte necrosis, fibrosis, fatty degeneration and inflammatory cell infiltration were ameliorated by rBPTI administration.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated that rBPTI exerted a hepatoprotective effect on chronic liver fibrosis induced by CCl4, which suggests that rBPTI may have the potential application for chronic liver injury induced by drugs metabolism and toxic substances.

Urine metabolic profile changes of CCl4-liver fibrosis in rats and intervention effects of Yi Guan Jian Decoction using metabonomic approach

Background

Yi Guan Jian Decoction (YGJD), a famous Chinese prescription, has long been employed clinically to treat liver fibrosis. However, as of date, there is no report on the effects of YGJD from a metabonomic approach. In this study, a urine metabonomic method based on gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was employed to study the protective efficacy and metabolic profile changes caused by YGJD in carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)-induced liver fibrosis.

Methods

Urine samples from Wistar rats of three randomly divided groups (control, model, and YGJD treated) were collected at various time-points, and the metabolic profile changes were analyzed by GC/MS with principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares-discriminate analysis (PLS-DA). Furthermore, histopathology and biochemical examination were also carried out to ensure the success of CCl₄-induced liver fibrosis model.

Results

Urine metabolic profile studies suggested distinct clustering of the three groups, and YGJD group was much closer to the control group by showing a tendency of recovering towards the control group. Fourteen significantly changed metabolites were found, and YGJD treatment could reverse the levels of these metabolites to normal levels or close to normal levels.

Conclusions

The current study indicates that the YGJD has significant anti-fibrotic effects on CCl₄-induced liver fibrosis in rats, which might be by regulating the dysfunction of energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, cytochrome P450 metabolism, and gut microflora metabolism. The metabonomic approach can be recommended to study the pharmacological effect and mechanism of complex Chinese medicines.

The uremic solute indoxyl sulfate acts as an antioxidant against superoxide anion radicals under normal-physiological conditions

The effect of the uremic solute indoxyl sulfate (IS) on scavenging superoxide anion radicals (O(2)(*-)) generated from both the xanthine/xanthine oxidase (X/XO) system and activated neutrophils was investigated by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, combined with 2-ethoxycarbonyl-2-methyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrrole-1-oxide (EMPO). The findings show that the presence of normal-physiological serum concentrations of IS (0.1-10 microM) resulted in decreased formation of EMPO-superoxide adduct without affecting XO activity. Furthermore, IS showed scavenging activity against cell-derived O(2)(*-) generated from activated neutrophils. In addition, IS also eliminated hydroxyl radicals. These findings suggest that IS acts as a novel endogenous antioxidant under normal-physiological conditions.

An oral adsorbent, AST-120 protects against the progression of oxidative stress by reducing the accumulation of indoxyl sulfate in the systemic circulation in renal failure

PURPOSE

The effect of AST-120, an oral adsorbent, on oxidative stress in the systemic circulation in chronic renal failure (CRF) was examined and the potential role of indoxyl sulfate (IS), an uremic toxin adsorbed by AST-120, in inducing the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the vascular system was studied, in vitro and in vivo.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The level of oxidized albumin, a marker for oxidative stress in the systemic circulation was determined by HPLC, as previously reported. The mRNA levels of TGF-beta (1) and Oat1 were measured by quantitative RT-PCR. The IS induced ROS generation in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) was estimated using a fluorescence microplate reader.

RESULTS

An increase in the ratio of oxidized to unoxidized albumin was determined using 5/6 nephrectomized rats (CRF rats) compared to a control group. The ratio was significantly reduced in the group that received AST-120 of 4 weeks, suggesting that AST-120 inhibits oxidative stress in CRF. An anti-oxidative effect of AST-120 was also observed in CRF rats with a similar renal function. The ratio of oxidized albumin was correlated with serum IS levels in vivo. The same relationship was also observed in CRF rats with the continued administration of IS. In addition, IS dramatically increased the generation of ROS in both a dose- and time- dependent manner in HUVEC, suggesting that accumulated IS may play an important role in enhancing intravascular oxidative stress.

CONCLUSION

We propose that AST-120 reduces IS concentrations in the blood that induces ROS production in endothelial cells, thereby inhibiting the subsequent occurrence of oxidative stress in the systemic circulation in renal failure.