title: Hepatoprotective activity of total iridoid glycosides isolated from Paederia scandens (lour.) Merr. var. tomentosa.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Currently, human liver is susceptible to injury caused by alcohol and virus infiltration, resulting in hepatitis, cirrhosis, and even hepatocellular carcinoma. Paederia scandens (Lour.) Merr. var. tomentosa (Rubiaceae) has been used as traditional medicine in Asian countries to treat jaundice, dysentery, and abdominal mass. Furthermore, the abundance of iridoid glycosides in Paederia species indicates their notable hepatoprotective potential.
  
  
  METHODS
  Total iridoid glycosides (TG) was prepared, and constituents of TG were analyzed by HPLC. TG and silymarin (positive) were orally administered for 15 days. Then, acute liver injury rats was induced by intraperitoneally injection (i.p.) of 10% CCl4 (0.12%, v/v, dissolved in olive oil, 10 mL/kg, body weight). Rats were sacrificed at 16 h after CCl4 injection. Liver tissues and blood were collected. Serum samples were prepared to determine the activities of alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST), whereas liver tissue sections were prepared for the purpose of examining possible liver histopathological changes. In addition, antioxidant enzyme activities in liver tissues were also evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results demonstrated that TG significantly decreased the levels of AST and ALT, compared with those in control rats. In addition, pre-treatment of the rats with TG clearly alleviated their liver tissue injuries. What's more, the activities of GSH, GAT and SOD in the groups of TG-treated rats were significantly increased compared with those of rats in the control group, whereas the levels of MDA were decreased.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our present research indicated that TG possessed notable hepatoprotective activity via decreasing oxidative stress level in liver tissues.
authors: Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, PR China; College of Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 610075, PR China.
authors: Wei
authors: W
authors: Peng
authors: Department of Stomatology, Changhai Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, PR China.
authors: Xiao-Qian
authors: XQ
authors: Qiu
authors: Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, PR China.
authors: Zhi-Heng
authors: ZH
authors: Shu
authors: College of Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 610075, PR China.
authors: Qing-Chun
authors: QC
authors: Liu
authors: College of Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 610075, PR China.
authors: Mei-Bian
authors: MB
authors: Hu
authors: Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, PR China.
authors: Ting
authors: T
authors: Han
authors: Faculty of Science, School of Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3 AF England, UK.
authors: Khalid
authors: K
authors: Rahman
authors: Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, PR China. Electronic address: qinsmmu@126.com.
authors: Lu-Ping
authors: LP
authors: Qin
authors: Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, PR China. Electronic address: zhengchengjian@smmu.edu.cn.
authors: Cheng-Jian
authors: CJ
authors: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D057889:Iridoid Glycosides / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D019666:Rubiaceae
chemical_list: D057889:Iridoid Glycosides; D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: Hepatoprotective activity; Oxidative stress; Paederia scandens (Lour.) Merr. var. tomentosa; Total iridoid glycosides