Protective effects of puerarin on alcohol-induced oxidative injury in PC12 cells

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of puerarin on alcoholtoxicity in rat pheochromocytoma cell line(PC12). METHODS The PC12 cells were incubated with different concentrations of puerarin in advance. The protective effects of the puerarin on alcohol induced PC12 cel impairment were evaluated according to the fol owing approach: the viability of PC12 cel was determined by MTT assay and the impairment level was evaluated by analysis the leakage content of the lactate dehydrogenase(LDH). The cel apoptosis degree and the pro-apoptotic p53 protein expression were measured by flow cytometry. RESULTS Alcohol significantly impaired PC12 cel viability(P<0.05),and increased LDH leakage(P<0.05),induced cell apoptosis and upregulated expression of p53(P<0.05).While Puerarin significantly reversed these changes(P<0.05). CONCLUSION Puerarin might exert protection effect against ethanol-induced neurotoxicity via inhibition the expression of p53 protein.

Preparation and evaluation of silymarin nanosuspensions for protective effects on stress-induced liver injury

OBJECTIVE To fabricate Silymarin(SM) nanosuspensions(NSs) and evaluate their protective effect on stress-induced liver injury. METHODS SM nanosuspensions were tailored by combination of the anti-solvent precipitation and high pressure homogenization(HPH); the formulations were optimized by central composite design. The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of SM-NSs were also performed.RESULTS In light of the quadratic mathematical equations derived from the Design of Expert Software,the optimal formulation of SM-NSs consisted of PVP 0.34% and F188 0.36%. The morphology of NSs was found to be spherical with a diameter of about 150 nm using transmission electron microscope(TEM)observation. The pharmacokinetics experiment demonstrated that oral administration of SM-NSs significantly increased its bioavailability compared to the coarse powder(Cmax: 9.03 ± 2.39 mg · L^(-1);AUMC_(0→∞):3757.35±227.19 mg·L^(-1)·h; AUC_(0→∞):171.84±26.61 mg·L^(-1)·h). In pharmacodynamics,it was found that restraint stress produced oxidative effects and increased serum AST and ALT levels in mice,both of which were significantly inhibited by SM and SM-NSs; in addition,administration of SM-NSs showed more effective prevention against acute liver injury than SM coarse suspensions(r^2=0.986,0.984,P<0.05). CONCLUSION The results suggest that fabricated SM-NSs exert potent hepatoprotective effects and attenuate restraint stress-induced liver injury. The study provides an effective approach to improving the property of SM,which can be used for treatment of liver diseases.