Oxidative stress and inflammation are well-documented pathological factors in alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) is a healthy food and folk medicine with anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. This study aimed to evaluate the preventive effects of ethanolic extract from artichoke against acute alcohol-induced liver injury in mice. Male Institute of Cancer Research mice were treated with an ethanolic extract of artichoke (0.4, 0.8, and 1.6 g/kg body weight) by gavage once daily. Up to 40% alcohol (12 mL/kg body weight) was administered orally 1 h after artichoke treatment. All mice were fed for 10 consecutive days. Results showed that artichoke extract significantly prevented elevated levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, triglyceride, total cholesterol, and malondialdehyde. Meanwhile, the decreased levels of superoxide dismutase and glutathione were elevated by artichoke administration. Histopathological examination showed that artichoke attenuated degeneration, inflammatory infiltration and necrosis of hepatocytes. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that expression levels of toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) in liver tissues were significantly suppressed by artichoke treatment. Results obtained demonstrated that artichoke extract exhibited significant preventive protective effect against acute alcohol-induced liver injury. This finding is mainly attributed to its ability to attenuate oxidative stress and suppress the TLR4/NF-κB inflammatory pathway. To the best of our knowledge, the underlying mechanisms of artichoke on acute ALD have been rarely reported.
Zhi mu (Anemarrhena asphodeloides Bunge.) is an important medicinal plant in China, and its growth is greatly threatened by the fungal disease anthracnose, which can be caused by a number of species of Colletotrichum. Studying the phytopathogen and its sensitivities to fungicides will help to control anthracnose on zhi mu. Ten isolates of Colletotrichum were collected from zhi mu in Hebei, Anhui and Shanxi Provinces in China for this study. The isolates were identified as C. gloeosporioides, C. liriopes and C. spaethianum based on multi‐locus phylogenetic analyses, including ACT, CHS‐1, GADPH, HIS3 and ITS, micromorphological characteristics and the characteristics of colonies. Koch's postulates were confirmed by inoculating the leaves of zhi mu in vitro. The levels of virulence of 10 isolates varied significantly. Isolate YC‐1 was the most virulent, while BZ‐2 was the least virulent. The sensitivity of isolates YC‐1, BY‐1 and BY‐2 (C. spaethianum, C. gloeosporioides and C. liriopes respectively) to fungicides were examined. The EC50 values of BY‐1, BY‐2, and YC‐1 to tebuconazole, difenoconazole, prochloraz, fludioxonil, pyraclostrobin, carbendazim and azoxystrobin confirm that all of the isolates were markedly sensitive to the seven fungicides tested, strongly suggesting that these fungicides could be used to control anthracnose on zhi mu in the field.
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