Abstract:

To investigate the protective effect of Hydroxysafflor Yellow A(HSYA) against Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)induced hepatotoxicity and its mechanism.  MethodsA total of 60 mice were randomly and averagely divided into 6 groups: the blank control group, the CCl4 group, four dosages of HSYA groups (2, 4, 8, 16?mg/kg). 10% CCl4 was used to induce acute liver injury in all groups expect for the control group. All animals were sacrificed after 24h from CCl4 intraperitoneal injection. Liver injury was assessed by elevations of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotranferase (AST) activities and histopathology. Antioxidative activity was measured by the formation of malondialdehyde (MDA).  Superoxide anion scavenging activity was evaluated by contents of glutathione (GSH) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Radioimmunoassay (RIA) was used to measure formation of tumor necrosis factorα(TNFα). Expression level of cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) protein was measured by western blot analysis.  ResultsPretreatment of HSYA was shown to possess a significantly protective effect by significantly lowering the serum AST and ALT (P<0.05). This hepatoprotective action was confirmed by histological observations. In addition, pretreatment of HSYA significantly prevented the elevation of MDA formation and the depletion of GSH and SOD contents in the liver of CCl4injected mice (P<0.05). The groups pretreated with HSYA significantly developed lower TNFα levels compared with nonHSYA pretreated CCl4injected mice (P<0.05). Expression level of CYP2E1 in the HSYA pretreated groups was higher than that in the nonHSYA pretreated CCl4injected group, but was lower compared with the blankcontrol group.  ConclusionHSYA has a potent hepatoprotective effect on CCl4induced acute liver injury in mice through antioxidant activity and reducing formation of TNFα.

Key words: Hydroxysafflor yellow A; CCl4induced acute liver injury;  Cytochrome P450 2E1; Tumor necrosis factorα; Mice