The protective effects of Propolis on hepatic injury and its mechanism

Abstract

Propolis (PP) is a sticky substance that is collected from plants by honeybees. The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effects of PP on hepatotoxicity induced by acetaminophen (AA, paracetamol) and the mechanism of its hepatoprotective effect. In rat hepatocyte culture, pretreatment with PP (1, 10, 100, 200 and 400 microg/mL, 24 h) significantly decreased the cytotoxicity of AA (0.5 mm) in a dose-dependent manner. In mice, pretreatment with PP (10 and 25 mg/kg, p.o., 7 days) also decreased the mortality and the incidence and severity of hepatic necrosis induced by AA (400 mg/kg, i.p.). After treatment with PP for 7 days, the hepatic enzyme activities of cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s), UDP-glucuronyltransferase, phenolsulphotransferase (PST), glutathione S-transferase (GST) were measured in both rats and mice. In rats, PP (50 and 100 mg/kg, p.o.) decreased the activity of P4502E1, but significantly increased the activities of GST and PST. On the other hand, in mice treated with PP (10 and 25 mg/kg, p.o.), the activities of P4501A2, 2B1, 3A4 and 2E1 were dramatically inhibited, and the activity of PST was significantly enhanced. These results suggest that PP has a protective effect on hepatic injury, and that its effect may be explained by inhibition of phase I enzymes and induction of phase II enzymes.

Effect of ethanolic extract of propolis on growth performance and plasma biochemical parameters of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

“…This is in line with the findings of Zhang et al (2009) where immersion administration with 0.02-0.03 g l -1 propolis solution resulted in significant increased in plasma AST and ALT activities of rainbow trout. Previous studies demonstrated that quinic acid derivatives naturally present in propolis have strong liverprotective effects and promote healing of toxic liver cells (Seo et al 2003). …”

Propolis reduces Leishmania amazonensis-induced inflammation in the liver of BALB/c mice

“…Studies have also demonstrated that the ethanolic extract of propolis has anti-inflammatory properties in both chronic and acute inflammation and exerts protective effects against hepatotoxicity (Seo et al 2003;Batista et al 2012). The molecular mechanisms involved in the immunomodulatory and antiinflammatory activities of this natural compound include the capacity of inhibiting T cell activation by affecting mainly IL-2, NF-κB, MAP, STAT 3, and IL-6 (Okamoto et al 2012;Búfalo et al 2013).…”

Protective Effect of Brazilian Propolis against Liver Damage with Cholestasis in Rats Treated withα-Naphthylisothiocyanate

“…Propolis collected from different areas of the world has been reported to exert a protective effect against in vivo acute liver damage in rats treated with hepatotoxicants such as carbon tetrachloride [7–12], D-galactosamine [13, 14], acetaminophen [15, 16], and econazole [17] through its several pharmacological actions to suppress hepatic oxidative stress associated with lipid peroxidation [7–11, 13, 16, 17] to inhibit hepatic drug-metabolizing enzymes [11, 12, 14, 15] and to ameliorate hyperlipemia [7, 12]. However, it is still unknown whether propolis exerts a protective effect against in vivo acute liver damage with cholestasis in rats.…”