Protective Effect of Germinated and Fermented Soybean Extract Against tert‐butyl Hydroperoxide‐Induced Hepatotoxicity in the Rats

Abstract

Current study was aimed to investigate antioxidant and hepatoprotective effects of germinated andfermented soybean extract (GFSE) on tert‐butyl hydroperoxide(t‐BHP)–induced oxidative stress in HepG2 cell and rat liver. t‐BHP‐induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was significantly lowered by GFSE. The ROS reduction was associated with mRNA levels those are down‐regulated nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate‐oxidase 4 (NOX4), a pro‐oxidant enzyme, and up‐regulated anti‐oxidant enzymes such as catalase, superoxide dismuatase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (Gpx), and glutathione reductase (GR) in the liver. In addition, mRNA level of antioxidant enzymes those are related to the enhancement of enzymatic activities of SOD, catalase, and glutathione‐S‐transferase (GST) was also significantly increased. This antioxidant effect of GFSE was connected to the reduction of MDA (malondialdehyde) levels as well as the increase of glutathione (GSH) levels in the liver. Furthermore, GFS was shown to decrease the serum level of clinical markers for the liver function such as ALT (alanine aminotransferase), AST (Aspartate aminotransferase), and total cholesterol. These effects of GFSE were also confirmed by histopathological analyses.This work was supported by “Food Functionality Evaluation program” under the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and partly Korea Food Research Institute.