title: Saeng-Maek-San, a medicinal herb complex, protects liver cell damage induced by alcohol.
abstract: The effect of treatment with Saeng-Maek-San (SMS) Complex (SMS1 or SMS2) upon rat hepatocytes exposed to alcohol was investigated. We compared the serum biochemistry and liver histology of rats administered both alcohol and SMS to control rats treated with alcohol alone. SMS treatment resulted in a significant reduction in the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and triglycerides (TG) compared to the control rats. In contrast, expression levels of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) were increased. Electron microscopy indicated that administration of SMS preserved the structure of organelles, including the nucleus and mitochondria. In addition, lipid droplets and secondary lysosomes were observed in the control rats. These data suggest that SMS represents an excellent candidate for protection of rat hepatocytes from alcohol-mediated damage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea. kkupkj@chol.net
authors.forename: Kap Joo
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Min Jung
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hyunmin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Kang Sung
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang-Han
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ikhyun
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Hyung Hoan
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D007723:Korea; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D000431:Ethanol