Molecular mechanism and research progress on pharmacology of traditional Chinese medicine in liver injury

Abstract

Context: Liver disease is a common threat to human health, caused by a variety of factors that damage the liver. Recent studies have shown that active ingredients (for example: flavonoids, saponins, acids, phenols, and alkaloids) from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can have hepatoprotective benefits, which represents an attractive source of drug discovery for treating liver injury.Objective: We reviewed recent contributions on the chemically induced liver injury, immunological liver damage, alcoholic liver injury, and drug-induced liver injury, in order to summarize the research progress in molecular mechanism and pharmacology of TCM, and provides a comprehensive overview of new TCM treatment strategies for liver disease.Materials and methods: Relevant literature was obtained from scientific databases such as Pubmed, Web of Science. and CNKI databases on ethnobotany and ethnomedicines (from January 1980 to the end of May 2018). The experimental studies involving the antihepatic injury role of the active agents from TCM and the underlying mechanisms were identified. The search terms included ‘liver injury’ or ‘hepatic injury’, and ‘traditional Chinese medicine’, or ‘herb’.Results: A number of studies revealed that the active ingredients of TCM exhibit potential therapeutic benefits against liver injury, while the underlying mechanisms appear to contribute to the regulation of inflammation, oxidant stress, and pro-apoptosis signaling pathways.Discussion and conclusions: The insights provided in this review will help further exploration of botanical drugs in the development of liver injury therapy via study on the effective components of TCM.

Crocus sativus L. Extract Containing Polyphenols Modulates Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Response against Anti-Tuberculosis Drugs-Induced Liver Injury

“…The combination of INH-RIF metabolites stimulates Kuffer cells which cause activation of proinflammatory cytokines receptors such as TNF-α and COX-2, which are in turn involved in apoptosis and inflammation of the hepatocytes [47][48][49][50][51]. Our findings show that the concentrations of TNF-α and COX-2 in the INH-RIF-treated animals significantly increased as compared to the controlled animals.…”

Dendrobium officinale Flower Extraction Mitigates Alcohol‐Induced Liver Injury in Mice: Role of Antisteatosis, Antioxidative, and Anti‐Inflammatory

“…Then, the acetaldehyde is oxidized to acetic acid with the involvement of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2). Finally, the acetic acid is metabolized to carbon dioxide by the citric acid cycle [ 8 ]. However, the ability of liver to metabolize alcohol is limitary, and the alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity is mainly mediated through its conversion to acetaldehyde [ 9 , 10 ].…”

“…However, the ability of liver to metabolize alcohol is limitary, and the alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity is mainly mediated through its conversion to acetaldehyde [ 9 , 10 ]. On the one hand, the acetaldehyde can induce oxidative stress, decrease the amount of glutathione, and increase the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) [ 8 ]. On the other hand, excess ROS induces the accumulation of lipid in hepatocytes, which leads to liver steatosis.…”

ROS‐mediated PERK‐eIF2α‐ATF4 pathway plays an important role in arsenite‐induced L‐02 cells apoptosis via regulating CHOP‐DR5 signaling

“…Different degree of liver injury has been reported in population with exposure to arsenic 32 . Apoptosis is one of the important pathophysiological hallmarks of liver aging and age‐related liver diseases 33,34 . Arsenic‐induced apoptosis has been determined in hepatic tissues and primary hepatocytes 15,16 .…”