Title: Inhibitory effect of total extract of Astragalus on hepatocyte apoptosis
Abstract: To study the protective effect of total extract of Astragalus(TEA) against hepatocyte apoptosis and the mechanism of action, D galactosamine(D GalN, 700 mg·kg -1 , ip)+lipopolysaccharide(LPS, 1 μg·kg -1 , ip) induced hepatocyte apoptosis in mice and H 2O 2(0.1 mmol·L -1 , 1 h) induced apoptosis of primary cultured rat hepatocytes in vitro were made. Morphological assessment of apoptosis was performed with optical microscopy and fluorescent microscopy. DNA fragmentation was determined by flow cytometry and agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA. The results showed that the elevation of serum tumor necrosis factor level, malondialdehyde(MDA) content of liver homogenates and the decrease in Mn superoxide dismutase activity of hepatocytic mitochondrion in mice induced by D GalN+LPS were inhibited remarkably by TEA(40 mg·kg -1 , ig×2, 5 h) treatment. Hepatocyte shrinkage, chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation from mice induced by D GalN+LPS were ameliorated remarkably by TEA. The inhibited proliferation and the elevation of MDA content of primary hepatocytes induced by H 2O 2 were reversed by TEA(20 mg·L -1 ) treatment. The chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation of hepatocytes were inhibited by TEA(40 mg·L -1 ) treatment. The apoptosis peak level induced by H 2O 2 was reduced from 63.7% to 4.2% by TEA(20 mg·L -1 ). These results suggest that TEA has anti apoptosis effect on hepatocyte injury in vitro and in vivo. The action might be related to its anti oxidative activity.
Publication Year: 2001
Publication Date: 2001-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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