title: Quercetin protects against ethanol-induced oxidative damage in rat primary hepatocytes.
abstract: The pathogenesis and progression of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) are associated with free radical injury and oxidative stress, which could be partially attenuated by antioxidants and free radical scavengers. Quercetin, one of the most widely distributed flavonoids in plants, is a natural antioxidant. The hypothesis that quercetin could prevent the ethanol-induced oxidative damage in hepatocytes was investigated. The ethanol-intoxicated (100mM for 8h) rat primary hepatocytes were post-treated (2h), simultaneously treated or pre-treated (2h) with quercetin respectively, while the time-dependent (0.5-8h) and dose-dependent (25-200muM) quercetin pre-treatment were used in the present study. The parameters of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate transaminase (AST), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were determined to address the alterations of cell damage and antioxidant state after quercetin intervention. The toxic insult of ethanol to hepatocytes was challenged by quercetin and these parameters almost returned to the level of control group when hepatocytes were pre-treated with quercetin at the dose of 50muM for 2-4h before ethanol exposure. In conclusion, quercetin pre-treatment provided protection against ethanol-induced oxidative stress in hepatocytes and may be used as a new natural drug for the prevention and/or treatment of ALD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan 430030, PR China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Biyun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Andreas K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Nüssler
authors.forename: Liegang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu