Wild bitter gourd protects against alcoholic fatty liver in mice by attenuating oxidative stress and inflammatory responses

Abstract

Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) is a common vegetable grown widely in Asia that is used as a traditional medicine. The objective of this study was to investigate whether wild bitter gourd possessed protective effects against chronic alcohol-induced liver injury in mice. C57BL/6 mice were fed an alcohol-containing liquid diet for 4 weeks to induce alcoholic fatty liver. Meanwhile, mice were treated with ethanol extracts from four different wild bitter gourd cultivars: Hualien No. 1', Hualien No. 2', Hualien No. 3' and Hualien No. 4'. The results indicated that the daily administration of 500 mg kg body weight(-1) of a Hualien No. 3' extract (H3E) or a Hualien No. 4' extract (H4E) markedly reduced the steatotic alternation of liver histopathology. In addition, the activation of serum aminotransferases (AST and ALT) and the accumulation of hepatic TG content caused by alcohol were ameliorated. The hepatoprotective effects of H3E and H4E involved the enhancement of the antioxidant defence system (GSH, GPx, GRd, CAT and SOD), inhibition of lipid peroxidation (MDA) and reduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6) in the liver. Moreover, H3E and H4E supplementation suppressed the alcohol-induced elevation of CYP2E1, SREBP-1, FAS and ACC protein expression. These results demonstrated that ethanol extracts of Hualien No. 3' and Hualien No. 4' have beneficial effects against alcoholic fatty liver, in which they attenuate oxidative stress and inflammatory responses.

Bitter melon: a panacea for inflammation and cancer

“…Various extracts of MC are studied for biological activities, including anti-oxidant [15] , anti-diabetic [16] , anti-cancer [17] , anti-inflammatory [18] , anti-bacterial [19] , antifungal [20] , anti-viral [21] , anti-HIV [22] , anti-helminthic [23] , anti-mycobac-terial [24] , hypotensive [25] , anti-obesity [26] , immunomodulatory [27] , anti-hyperlipidemic [28] , hepatoprotective [29] , and neuropro-tective [30] activities. Several chemical constituents such as cucurbitane type triterpenoids, cucurbitane type glycosides, triterpene saponins, phenolic, and flavonoid compounds, and some protein fractions have been isolated from MC [31] .…”

“…These protective effects are mediated by increase in antioxidant enzymes (GSH, GPx, GRd, CAT and SOD), reduction in lipid peroxidation (MDA) and lowering expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF- α , IL-1 β and IL-6) in the liver [29] . Similarly, Thenmozhi & Subramanian have shown that MC extract provides protection by reversing the oxidant-anti-oxidant imbalance in ammonium chloride-induced hyperammonemic rats suggesting the involvement of anti-oxidant properties of MC extract in biological activity [92] .…”

Development of an IgY Antibody-Based Immunoassay for the Screening of the CYP2E1 Inhibitor/Enhancer from Herbal Medicines

“…Therefore, we speculated that flavonoids might be active compounds that can reduce the impact of liver-damaging substances by inhibiting the expression of CYP2E1, which might be one of the hepatoprotective mechanisms of flavonoids. Also, an investigation of the effects of flavonoids on CYP2E1 expression is necessary since some daily foods (purple potato, purple sweet potato, broccoli, bitter gourd, garlic, and tomato), beverages (coffee and cacao polyphenol), and drugs ( Schisandra chinensis , danshen, Gelsemium elegans , isoniazid, diallyl sulfide, sulforaphane, and tamoxifen) are metabolized by CYP2E1 (Vang et al, 1991; Gu et al, 1992; Wargovich, 2006; Wang et al, 2010, 2015; Konstandi et al, 2013; Su et al, 2013; Ahmad et al, 2014; Lu et al, 2014; Zhou et al, 2014, 2015; Shayakhmetova et al, 2015; Suzuki et al, 2015; Jiang et al, 2016a,b). …”

Supplementation with Hualian No. 4 wild bitter gourd (<i>Momordica charantia</i> Linn. var. <i>abbreviata</i> ser.) extract increases anti-fatigue activities and enhances exercise performance in mice

“…The HDARES, capitalizing on the continuous female flower initiation and high fruit bearing ability of bitter gourd, bred the new cultivars Hualien Nos.1–4, which are high in Vitamin C, anti-oxidants and charantin. Recent publications have reported many pharmacological activities of WBG, such as improving metabolic syndrome [37], countering alcoholic fatty liver [28] and reducing inflammation [18]. The nutritional analysis of bitter gourd fruits shows that it is rich in carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, fiber and minerals, holds the highest nutritive value among all cucurbits [21].…”