title: Protection by dietary Spirulina platensis against D-galactosamine--and acetaminophen-induced liver injuries.
abstract: Increasing attention has been paid to Spirulina for its potential clinical uses. The present study investigated the protection by dietary Spirulina platensis against d-galactosamine (d-GalN)- and acetaminophen (APAP)-induced hepatitis in ICR mice. Mice in each group (n 6) were fed with a standard diet (American Institute of Nutrition (AIN)-93G), a positive control diet containing 0.5 % butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), or a diet containing 3, 6 or 9 % S. platensis for 1 week. On the last day the mice were treated with d-GalN (300 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneally) or APAP (150 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneally) and 24 h later the mice were killed. The doses of both 6 and 9 % S. platensis were found to significantly alleviate the increase of serum glutamate oxaloacetoacetate transaminase (GOT) and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) activities in d-GalN- or APAP-intoxicated mice. The observation was very similar to that of the positive control groups. Two more experiments were carried out to investigate the involvement of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) and IL-18 in the suppression of 6 % S. platensis on d-GalN- and APAP-induced hepatitis. The significant increase of GOT and GPT activities was found to be accompanied with the elevation of hepatic TBARS level, IL-18 mRNA expression and serum IL-18 concentration, and was significantly alleviated by supplementation with 6 % S. platensis in diets. These results showed that dietary S. platensis could provide a significant protection against d-GalN- and APAP-induced liver injuries, and IL-18 and lipid peroxidation might be involved in the protective influence of S. platensis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food and Nutrition, Graduate School of Science and Technology, Chiba University, Matsudo, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Di-Feng
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Jian-Zhong
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hiroo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sanada
authors.forename: Yukari
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Egashira
mesh_terms: D000082:Acetaminophen / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / Q000097:blood / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004032:Diet; D005688:Galactosamine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics; D008099:Liver / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000032:analysis; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D053545:Spirulina; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D020382:Interleukin-18; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D000082:Acetaminophen; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D005688:Galactosamine; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase