Protective effects of Centella asiatica leaf extract on dimethylnitrosamine-induced liver injury in rats

Abstract

Oxidative stress in liver injury is a major pathogenetic factor in the progression of liver damage. Centella asiatica (L.) Urban, known in the United States as Gotu kola, is widely used as a traditional herbal medicine in Chinese or Indian Pennywort. The efficacy of Centella asiatica is comprehensive and is used as an anti-inflammatory agent, for memory improvement, for its antitumor activity and for treatment of gastric ulcers. The present study investigated the protective effects of Centella asiatica on dimethylnitrosamine (DMN)-induced liver injury in rats. The rats in the treatment groups were treated with Centella asiatica at either 100 or 200 mg/kg in distilled water (D.W) or with silymarin (200 mg/kg in D.W) by oral administration for 5 days daily following intraperitoneal injections of 30 mg/kg DMN. Centella asiatica significantly decreased the relative liver weights in the DMN-induced liver injury group, compared with the control. The assessment of liver histology showed that Centella asiatica significantly alleviated mass periportal ± bridging necrosis, intralobular degeneration and focal necrosis, with fibrosis of liver tissues. Additionally, Centella asiatica significantly decreased the level of malondialdehyde, significantly increased the levels of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and catalase, and may have provided protection against the deleterious effects of reactive oxygen species. In addition, Centella asiatica significantly decreased inflammatory mediators, including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ and granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor. These results suggested that Centella asiatica had hepatoprotective effects through increasing the levels of antioxidant enzymes and reducing the levels of inflammatory mediators in rats with DMN-induced liver injury. Therefore, Centella asiatica may be useful in preventing liver damage.

Betulinic acid protects againstN-nitrosodimethylamine-induced redox imbalance in testes of rats

“…SOD is involved in the control of decidual cell differentiation in rats and regulation of cell proliferation [39]. The decrease in SOD activity of NDMA-treated rats observed in this study is similar to the findings of Choi et al [40], in which NDMA intoxication decreased hepatic SOD, CAT and GST activities of treated rats. In addition, administration of NDMA caused significant depletion of testicular glutathione and rapid loss of activities of enzymes of GSH pathway such as GPx and GST.…”

Effects of Centella asiatica extract on antioxidant status and liver metabolome of rotenone‐treated rats using GC–MS

“…Although an increase in SOD and GPx activities was observed in many previous studies (Choi et al, ; Jayashree, Kurup Muraleedhara, Sudarslal, & Jacob, ; Zhao et al, ), rat liver pre‐treated with ECa233 did not show significantly higher SOD and GPx levels in the present study. However, significantly lower CAT activities were observed in the rotenone‐treated group.…”

“…The administration of ECa233 also significantly reduced lipid peroxidation. Previous studies by Zhao et al () and Choi et al () also reported protective effects of C. asiatica extracts on lipid peroxidation by decreasing TBARS levels in hamster and rat livers, respectively. Lipid peroxidation inhibition of ECa233 against rotenone toxicity possibly resulted from free radical scavenging properties of the triterpenoids madecassoside and asiaticoside (Lin et al, ; Luo et al, ; Luo et al, ; Shukla, Rasik, & Dhawan, ).…”

Cerium oxide nanoparticle elicits oxidative stress, endocrine imbalance and lowers sperm characteristics in testes of balb/c mice

“…Inhibition of SOD and CAT may enhance accumulation of superoxide radical and H 2 O 2 and thus exposed the testes to oxidative stress. Superoxide dismutase is involved in the control of decidual cell differentiation in animals (Devasagayam, Sivabalan, & Tarachand, ) and regulation of cell proliferation (Choi et al., ). The increase in LPO of CeO 2 NPs‐treated mice observed in this study is similar to the findings of Connolly et al.…”