Protective Effects of Aqueous Extracts of Flos lonicerae Japonicae against Hydroquinone‐Induced Toxicity in Hepatic L02 Cells

Abstract

Hydroquinone (HQ) is widely used in food stuffs and is an occupational and environmental pollutant. Although the hepatotoxicity of HQ has been demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo, the prevention of HQ-induced hepatotoxicity has yet to be elucidated. In this study, we focused on the intervention effect of aqueous extracts of Flos lonicerae Japonicae (FLJ) on HQ-induced cytotoxicity. We demonstrated that HQ reduced cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner by administering 160 μmol/L HQ for 12 h as the positive control of cytotoxicity. The aqueous FLJ extracts significantly increased cell viability and decreased LDH release, ALT, and AST in a concentration-dependent manner compared with the corresponding HQ-treated groups in hepatic L02 cells. This result indicated that aqueous FLJ extracts could protect the cytotoxicity induced by HQ. HQ increased intracellular MDA and LPO and decreased the activities of GSH, GSH-Px, and SOD in hepatic L02 cells. In addition, aqueous FLJ extracts significantly suppressed HQ-stimulated oxidative damage. Moreover, HQ promoted DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and the level of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine and apoptosis. However, aqueous FLJ extracts reversed HQ-induced DNA damage and apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner. Overall, our results demonstrated that the toxicity of HQ was mediated by intracellular oxidative stress, which activated DNA damage and apoptosis. The findings also proved that aqueous FLJ extracts exerted protective effects against HQ-induced cytotoxicity in hepatic L02 cells.

Chinese Herbal Formula (CHF03) Attenuates Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) Through Inhibiting Lipogenesis and Anti-Oxidation Mechanisms

“…The increase of ROS can lead to lipid peroxidation, hence, oxidative stress is closely related to the pathogenesis of NAFLD (Mota et al, 2016). The enzymes SOD and GSH-px are important antioxidant enzymes that can prevent the damage of liver caused by reactive oxygen species (Gao et al, 2018) produced during oxidative stress. The MDA produced during lipid peroxidation can damage cell membranes and contribute to impaired cellular function (Perluigi et al, 2012).…”

Yin Zhi Huang, a traditional Chinese herbal formula, ameliorates diet-induced obesity and hepatic steatosis by activating the AMPK/SREBP-1 and the AMPK/ACC/CPT1A pathways

“…In several regions of China, the former three are commonly used as foods. Several studies indicated that these four plants have anti-obesity or liver protection properties (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)12,13). Thus, we proposed that YZH may be a promising strategy for NAFLD management.…”

Protective effects of Schisandrin B against D-GalN-induced cell apoptosis in human hepatocyte (L02) cells via modulating Bcl-2 and Bax

“…Compared with control, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001; compared with D-GalN, # P < 0.05, ## P < 0.01, ### P < 0.001. redox cycle of GSH and SOD [19,20]. SOD is an important antioxidant enzyme, that can catalyze the conversion of superoxide radical into H 2 O 2 , then continuously detoxify them to H 2 O [21][22][23]. Therefore, SOD protects hepatocytes from the harmful effects caused by superoxide radicals to a certain degree.…”