Liver Injury Suppressing Compounds from Avocado (Persea americana)

Abstract

To evaluate the protective activity of fruits against liver injury, 22 different fruits were fed to rats with liver damage caused by D-galactosamine, a powerful liver toxin. As measured by changes in the levels of plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), avocado showed extraordinarily potent liver injury suppressing activity. Five active compounds were isolated and their structures determined. These were all fatty acid derivatives, of which three, namely, (2E,5E,12Z,15Z)-1-hydroxyheneicosa-2,5,12,15-tetraen-4-one, (2E,12Z,15Z)-1-hydroxyheneicosa-2,12,15-trien-4-one, and (5E,12Z)-2-hydroxy-4-oxoheneicosa-5,12-dien-1-yl acetate, were novel.

Hepatoprotective Effects of Flavonoids from Shekwasha (Citrus depressa) against D-Galactosamine-Induced Liver Injury in Rats

“…GalN is one such drug and has often been used to screen hepatoprotective foods, medicines or their constituents. We have demonstrated that GalN-induced liver injury was effectively suppressed by green tea (31)(32)(33), mushrooms (34), fruits (2), and dietary fibers (33) in rats. It has been thought that GalN induces liver injury by inhibiting the synthesis of RNA and proteins through a decrease in hepatic UTP concentration, which finally evokes the necrosis of liver cells (35)(36)(37), although recent reports have suggested that several cytokines, e.g., interleukin (IL)-1␣ (38), IL-6 (39) and IL-18 (40), and NO (41) might also participate in the pathogenesis of GalN-induced liver injury.…”

“…It is widely recognized that relatively high intakes of fruits and vegetables are desirable for prevention of diseases and maintenance of healthy conditions ( 1 ). Previously we reported that several kinds of fruit had suppressive effects on D -galactosamine (GalN)-induced liver injury in rats when various kinds of lyophilized fruit were added to the diet ( 2 ). Furthermore, recently we found that some fruit juices, e.g., camu-camu and shekwasha, also had suppressive effects on GalNinduced liver injury in rats, and we identified the active compound (unpublished data).…”

Structural and Functional Characterization of Polyphenols Isolated from Acerola (Malpighia emarginataDC.) Fruit

“…Moreover, some tropical and subtropical foodstuffs have been shown to have a strong suppressing effect on carcinogenesis and liver injury. 16,17) Therefore, tropical and subtropical plants may be attractive sources of functional foods beneficial to human health.…”

Antioxidant Properties of Selected African Vegetables, Fruits and Mushrooms: A Review

“…These compound classes may be divided into alkanols (also sometimes termed "aliphatic acetogenins"), terpenoid glycosides, various furan ring-containing derivatives, flavonoids, and a coumarin. The highly functionalized alkanols [218,[219][220][221] of avocado have exhibited quite diverse biological properties thus far. For example, Oberlies et al isolated 1, 2, 4-trihydroxyheptadec-16-ene, 1, 2, 4-trihydroxyheptadec-16-yne , and 1, 2, 4 -trihydroxynonadecane from the unripe fruits of P. americana, and found these substances to be moderately cytotoxic when evaluated against a small panel of cancer cell lines [219].Kawagishi et al isolated 5 alkanols from avocado fruits with "liver suppressing activity" (as determined by the changes in plasma levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase), including compounds 9-11 [221] Avocado has sometimes received the reputation as a fruit too high in fat.…”