清肠利肝方对刀豆蛋白A所致急性肝损伤小鼠的防护作用

Preventive effects of a traditional Chinese medicine formula-Qingchang Ligan on acute liver injury induced by concanavalin A in mice

目的:探讨中药复方清肠利肝方对刀豆蛋白A(Con A)所致急性肝损伤小鼠的防护作用。方法:将野生型C57BL/6(B6)雄性小鼠随机分为正常组、染毒组和清肠利肝方干预组;染毒组通过尾静脉注射Con A(35 mg/kg)诱导肝损伤,干预组先给予清肠利肝方(50 ml/kg)灌胃后再进行染毒。正常组仅给予生理盐水。观察比较各组小鼠的生存率、肝功能水平、组织病理学变化以及相关炎症分子的变化情况。结果:给予小鼠Con A能诱导明显的肝损伤,表现为血浆ALT、AST水平显著升高,大量肝细胞发生凋亡坏死。清肠利肝方干预组小鼠的ALT、AST水平低于染毒组,差异有显著性意义(P<0.05),病理结果显示肝损伤亦得到明显减轻;此外,干预组各项炎症分子如细胞外组蛋白、IL-6,MCP-1,TNF-α等水平显著低于染毒组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论:清肠利肝方对Con A所致的小鼠急性肝损伤有显著防护作用,其机制可能与减少细胞外组蛋白和相关的细胞因子的水平而达到抗炎的效应有关。

Objective： To investigate the protective effects of a traditional Chinese medicine （ TCM） formula-Qingchang Li-gan against acute liver injury caused by concanavalin A （Con A） in mice.Methods： Male C57BL/6 （B6） mice were randomly divided into three groups：control mice, which received saline only; Con A-treated mice, which was administered with Con A （35mg/kg） via tail vein injection;Qingchang Ligan＋Con A-treated mice, which received Qingchang Ligan （50ml/kg） prior to Con A injection.Hepatic function, histological indexes, as well as extracellular histones and the relevant inflammatory cytokines were compared among these groups.Results：Administration of Con A to mice caused acute liver injury, characterized by signifi-cantly increased ALT, AST levels and abnormal histological changes.Qingchang Ligan plus Con A-treated mice showed signifi-cantly lower levels of ALT, AST as well as reduced liver injury than in Con A-treated mice.Besides, the concentrations of extra-cellular histones and IL-6, MCP-1, TNF-αwere markedly decreased in Con A-treated mice after intervention of Qingchang Li-gan formula.Conclusion： Qingchang Ligan formula shows a potent protection against Con A-induced liver injury in mice, likely due to its ability to inhibit the release of extracellular histones and the relevant cytokines.