Comparison of the Hepatoprotective Effects of Four Endemic Cirsium Species Extracts from Taiwan on CCl4-Induced Acute Liver Damage in C57BL/6 Mice

Abstract

Species of Cirsium (Asteraceae family) have been used in folk hepatoprotective medicine in Taiwan. We collected four Cirsium species—including the aerial part of Cirsium arisanense (CAH), the aerial part of Cirsium kawakamii (CKH), the flower part of Cirsium japonicum DC. var. australe (CJF), and Cirsii Herba (CH)—and then made extractions from them with 70% methanol. We compared the antioxidant contents and activities of these four Cirsium species extracts by a spectrophotometric method and high-performance liquid chromatography–photodiode array detector (HPLC-DAD). We further evaluated the hepatoprotective effects of these extracts on CCl4-induced acute liver damage in C57BL/6 mice. The present study found CAH possesses the highest antioxidant activity among the four Cirsium species, and these antioxidant activities are closely related to phenylpropanoid glycoside (PPG) contents. The extracts decreased serum ALT and AST levels elevated by injection with 0.2% CCl4. However, only CJF and CH decreased hepatic necrosis. Silibinin decreased serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels and hepatic necrosis caused by CCl4. CJF and CH restored the activities of hepatic antioxidant enzymes and decreased hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. CJF further restored the expression of hepatic antioxidant enzymes including Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD), Mn-superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), and glutathione S-transferase (GST) proteins. HPLC chromatogram indicated that CKH, CJF, and CH contained silibinin diastereomers (α and β). Only CJF contained diosmetin. Hence, the hepatoprotective mechanism of CJF against CCl4-induced acute liver damage might be involved in restoring the activities and protein expression of the hepatic antioxidant defense system and inhibiting hepatic inflammation, and these hepatoprotective effects are related to the contents of silibinin diastereomers and diosmetin.

Sophora Tomentosa Extract Prevents MPTP-Induced Parkinsonism in C57BL/6 Mice Via the Inhibition of GSK-3β Phosphorylation and Oxidative Stress

“…The scavenging activities of ST extract against the DPPH or ABTS radicals were determined with spectrophotometric microplate readers (Bio-Tek, PowerWave X340, Winooski, VT, USA), according to the method described in our previous studies [ 27 , 28 ]. The scavenging activities of ST extract against the DPPH radical is expressed as gallic acid equivalents in milligram per gram of sample (GAERSC values).…”

“…The scavenging activities of ST extract against the ABTS radical is expressed as trolox equivalents in mmole per gram of sample (TEAC values). Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay was performed according to the method described in our previous report [ 28 ]. The results are expressed as the relative ascorbic acid equivalents in mmol per gram of sample (FRAP values).…”

“…The contents of antioxidant phytoconstituents such as total phenolics and flavonoids in the ST extract were assayed using 96-well microtiter spectrophotometric methods, according to our previous reports [ 27 , 28 ]. The total phenolic contents in the ST extract were measured through a redox reaction with FCP reagent and expressed as mg of gallic acid equivalents per gram of sample.…”

Natural products for the prevention and treatment of cholestasis: A review

“…Hashem, Hassanin, Rashed, Mahmoud, & Hassan, . Zhao et al, ; Figure 2g). The purified extract silymarin is composed of a mixture of four isomeric flavonolignans including silybin, isosilibinin, silidianin, and silichristin and also demonstrates antioxidative and antiinflammatory effects on liver injury (Wang, Huang, et al, 2018; Wang, Chen, et al, ).…”

Therapeutic Single Compounds for Osteoarthritis Treatment

“…Cirsium japonicum var. maackii (CJM), a member of the family composite, is a perennial herb and medicinal plant listed in the Korea, China, and Japan pharmacopoeias as a traditional antihemorrhagic [ 13 ], antihypertensive [ 14 ], and uretic medicine [ 15 ]. CJM is reported to exert anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects and help prevent diabetic complications and oxidative stress-related diseases.…”