title: Betulinic acid prevents alcohol-induced liver damage by improving the antioxidant system in mice.
abstract: Betulinic acid (BA), a pentacyclic lupane-type triterpene, has a wide range of bioactivities. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity of BA and the potential mechanism underlying the ability of this compound to prevent liver damage induced by alcohol in vivo. Mice were given oral doses of BA (0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mg/kg) daily for 14 days, and induced liver injury by feeding 50% alcohol orally at the dosage of 10 ml/kg after 1 h last administration of BA. BA pretreatment significantly reduced the serum levels of alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, total cholesterol, and triacylglycerides in a dose-dependent manner in the mice administered alcohol. Hepatic levels of glutathione, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase were remarkably increased, while malondialdehyde contents and microvesicular steatosis in the liver were decreased by BA in a dose-dependent manner after alcohol-induced liver injury. These findings suggest that the mechanism underlying the hepatoprotective effects of BA might be due to increased antioxidant capacity, mainly through improvement of the tissue redox system, maintenance of the antioxidant system, and decreased lipid peroxidation in the liver.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China.yijine@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Liyun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Zhuliang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D004798:Enzymes / Q000097:blood; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000187:drug effects; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D053978:Pentacyclic Triterpenes; D011897:Random Allocation; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000094062:Betulinic Acid
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D004798:Enzymes; D053978:Pentacyclic Triterpenes; D014315:Triterpenes; D000431:Ethanol; D000094062:Betulinic Acid
keywords: alcohol; antioxidant capacity; betulinic acid; lipid peroxidation; liver damage