Ginseng Berry Prevents Alcohol-Induced Liver Damage by Improving the Anti-Inflammatory System Damage in Mice and Quality Control of Active Compounds.

Dae Young Lee,Young-Seob Lee,Yung Choon Yoo,Dahye Yoon,Geum-Soog Kim,Min-Jee Kim

doi:10.3390/ijms20143522

Dae Young Lee, Young-Seob Lee + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20143522

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Abstract

The ginseng berry contains a variety of biologically active compounds and has a higher ginsenoside content than its roots. This study focused on the hepatoprotective activity of ginseng berry extract prepared by enzyme treatment (EGB) compared to the non-enzyme-treated ginseng berry extract (GB) and quality control of EGB. The feeding effect of EGB on alcohol-induced liver damage (AILD) was investigated by measuring the serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) compared with those of EtOH-fed mice. Furthermore, cytokine levels in the culture supernatants of EGB- or GB-treated RAW 264.7 cells were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The developed method was applied to the simultaneous quantification of four major ginsenosides in EGB using UPLC-QTOF/MS. Treatment with EGB at a dose of 0.5 or 1 mg/mouse significantly suppressed the AST and ALT levels in mice with AILD. Enzyme-treated ginseng berry was also found to suppress the production of inflammatory mediators like nitric oxide (NO), tumor-necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages, showing higher activity than that of GB. The amount of ginsenoside Re, F5, F3, and Rd in the EGB obtained using UPLC-QTOF/MS was 45.9, 3.3, 4.0, and 6.2 mg/g, respectively. These results suggest that EGB has a potential effect on AILD, and its hepatoprotective effect provides beneficial insights into developing new candidates for the prevention and cure of AILD. Also, this study demonstrated the utility of UPLC-QTOF/MS-based major compounds for quality control (QC) of EGB.

Highlights

Alcohol-induced liver damage (AILD) is recognized as a major cause of liver-associated morbidity and mortality worldwide [1]
Standard compounds (1–4) were purified from the berries of P. ginseng by a series of Standard compounds (1–4) were purified from the berries of P. ginseng by a series of chromatography procedures in our laboratory, and their structures were decided by a comparison chromatography procedures in our laboratory, and their structures were decided by a comparison of spectroscopic data (Mass, 11 H-NMR, and1313 C-NMR) with the literature data for ginsenoside Re of spectroscopic data (Mass, H-NMR, and C-NMR) with the literature data for ginsenoside Re (1), (1), ginsenoside F5 (2), ginsenoside F3 (3), and ginsenoside Rd (4) [24,25,26]
This study showed that the oral administration of enzyme‐treated ginseng F3 berry (EGB) significantly inhibited AST, ALT, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)

Summary

Introduction

Alcohol-induced liver damage (AILD) is recognized as a major cause of liver-associated morbidity and mortality worldwide [1]. It is well known that alcohol causes liver damage, the precise mechanisms related to the pathogenesis of AILD are not understood clearly. Many factors play important roles in the progression and pathogenesis of AILD, including gender and ethnic differences, disorder of metabolic function, nutritional condition, immunological actions, and oxidation-related stress [2]. Alcohol consumption has tended to increase all over the world, and has given rise to various health troubles related to functional disorder in the liver [3,4]. Because the liver is the main organ responsible for metabolic function for ingested alcohol, a series of physiological changes in the liver caused by alcohol exposure may leave the organ injured.

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