Abstract
Chronic alcohol consumption can cause hepatic injury and alcohol-induced toxicities. Extracts from Smilax china root have been widely used in traditional medicine and for their potential pharmacological benefits. We aimed to determine if fermented Smilax china extract (FSC) regulates alcoholic fatty liver and liver injury using two in vivo experiments. Sprague-Dawley rats were administered ethanol (3 g/kg b.w.; po) with or without FSC pretreatment to induce an acute hangover. In another experiment, rats were fed either a normal or Lieber-DeCarli ethanol (6.7%) diet with or without FSC pretreatment (125, 250, and 500 mg/kg b.w.; po) for 28 days. Serum biomarkers, liver histopathology, and the mRNA levels of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, lipogenic, and lipolytic genes were analyzed. FSC pretreatment significantly reduced blood alcohol and acetaldehyde concentrations, upregulated the mRNA expression of alcohol dehydrogenase, aldehyde dehydrogenase, and superoxide dismutase, and decreased the activities of liver enzymes in a dose-dependent manner. It also downregulated SERBP-1c and upregulated PPAR-α and reduced the gene expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 in the liver. The final extract after fermentation had increased GABA content. Furthermore, FSC was found to be safe with no acute oral toxicity in female rats. Thus, FSC increases alcohol metabolism and exhibits antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects to induce hepatoprotection against alcohol-induced damage. It may be used as a functional food ingredient after excess alcohol consumption.
Highlights
The liver plays a pivotal role in regulating physiological processes and performs various vital activities such as metabolism, secretion, and storage
We found that fermented Smilax china extract (FSC) improves Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) by lowering the serum levels of acetaldehyde, improving the biochemical markers of liver disease, increasing the gene expression of alcohol-metabolizing hepatic enzymes, and alleviating the lesions in the liver
IL-6 is a typical pro-inflammatory cytokine, and its gene expression was decreased in the ethanol-fed rats pretreated with FSC, with a 58.4% reduction in the group treated with 500 mg/kg b.w of FSC or 250 mg/kg b.w of Hovenia dulcis fruit extract (HDE) (Figure 6C)
Summary
The liver plays a pivotal role in regulating physiological processes and performs various vital activities such as metabolism, secretion, and storage. Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a major cause of chronic liver damage caused by excessive alcohol consumption that causes deaths worldwide [2]. A hangover that occurs the morning following an alcohol overdose results in temporary physical and psychological problems such as headache, sweating, gastrointestinal complaints, and fatigue. These adverse effects are due to a combination of main metabolic products of alcohol and acetaldehyde [3,4]. Increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), produced as a result of alcohol metabolism, drives alcohol-induced liver damage due to impaired antioxidant activity in the liver [5,6]
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