Anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties of helicid protect against CCl₄ induced acute liver injury in mice

ABSTRACT

Acute liver injury can be caused by chemicals and can lead to liver failure. We investigated the protective effect of helicid (HEL) on acute liver injury caused by CCl₄ in mice. We found that ALT and AST levels as well as hepatic pathological damage in mice treated with CCl₄ was increased significantly, while the effects were decreased by HEL treatment. HEL treatment increased the activity of T-SOD, GSH and CAT and reduced the level of MDA in CCl₄ treated mice. HEL improved the histopathology of liver caused by CCl₄. HEL also reduced TNF-α, IL-1β and IL- 6 activity caused by CCl₄. We investigated the phosphorylation of p65 and IκB protein and found that HEL can alleviate liver damage via the NF-κB signaling pathway. Our findings indicate that HEL protects against acute liver injury induced by CCl₄. The protective effect of HEL appears to be due to its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties through the NF-κB signaling pathway.

KEYWORDS:

• anti-inflammatory agent
• antioxidative agent
• carbon tetrachloride
• helicid
• liver
• mice

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

Our work was supported by the Key Project of Chinese National Programs for Research and Development (no. 2016YFD0501009).