The protective action of scutellarin against immunological liver injury induced by concanavalin A and its effect on pro-inflammatory cytokines in mice

Abstract

Scutellarin is a natural compound from a Chinese herb. The purpose of this paper was to study the protective effect of scutellarin on concanavalin A (Con A)-induced immunological liver injury and its effect on liver nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interferon gamma (IFN-gamma), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression in mice. Mouse liver injury was produced by injection of Con A 25 mg kg-1 via the tail vein. Scutellarin 50 or 100 mg kg-1 was peritoneally administered to mice 9 or 1 h before injection of Con A. The levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and asparatate aminotransferase (AST), NO2-/NO3- and TNF-alpha were determined with biochemical kits, and ELISA using Quantikine Mouse TNF-alpha kit according the manufacturer's instructions. Liver lesions were examined by light microscope. The expression of TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, iNOS and Fas mRNA in the livers was detected by RT-PCR; and the expression of c-Fos, c-Jun, iNOS and IkappaB proteins was measured by Western Blotting. As a result, pretreatment with scutellarin 100 mg kg-1 significantly decreased the serum ALT, AST, NO2-/NO3- and TNF-alpha levels, and also reduced liver lesions induced by Con A. Scutellarin 100 mg kg-1 down-regulated expression of TNF-alpha and iNOS mRNA, and c-Fos, c-Jun and iNOS protein, while scutellarin enhanced the degradation of IkappaB in the livers of mice injected with Con A. The results suggest that scutellarin has a protective action against Con A-induced liver injury in mice, and its active mechanism may be related to the inhibition of the NF-kappaB-TNF-alpha-iNOS transduction pathway.

Bioactivity, toxicity and detoxification assessment of Dioscorea bulbifera L.: a comprehensive review

“…Meanwhile, various studies have demonstrated that scutellarin protects liver cells from oxidative damage and inflammatory injury (Chen et al, 2013;Guo et al, 2013;Liu et al, 2003;Tan et al, 2010;. In addition, scutellarin has been reported to attenuate concanavalinA-, selenium-, and brain ischemia/reperfusion−induced liver injury (Eltayeb et al, 2004;Tan et al, 2007;Yang et al, 2003).…”

Scutellarin protects against the liver injury induced by diosbulbin B in mice and its mechanism

“…Meanwhile, there are various reports which demonstrate that SC exerts well protection against oxidative damage and inflammatory injury (Liu et al, 2003;Tan et al, 2010;Chen et al, 2013;Guo et al, 2013). In addition, SC was reported to attenuate concanavalin A-, selenium-, and brain ischemia/reperfusion-induced liver injury Eltayeb et al, 2004;Tan et al, 2007). Thus, whether SC will protect against the hepatotoxicity induced by DB attracts our attention.…”

Metabolic and pharmacokinetic studies of scutellarin in rat plasma, urine, and feces

“…Scutellarin produces an anti-inflammatory effect via actions on arachidonic acid metabolism [6] . The compound has also been shown to have some anti-HIV effects [7] and to attenuate hepatocellular damage [8] . It is interesting that scutellarin exhibits weak estrogenic properties [9,10] , similar to genistein and apigenin.…”