Protective Effects of Aqueous Extracts of Flos lonicerae Japonicae against Hydroquinone-Induced Toxicity in Hepatic L02 Cells.

Yanfang Gao,Gonghua Hu,Wenjuan Dai,Lijun Zou,Huanwen Tang,Hailong Liu,Liang Xiong

doi:10.1155/2018/4528581

Abstract

Hydroquinone (HQ) is widely used in food stuffs and is an occupational and environmental pollutant. Although the hepatotoxicity of HQ has been demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo, the prevention of HQ-induced hepatotoxicity has yet to be elucidated. In this study, we focused on the intervention effect of aqueous extracts of Flos lonicerae Japonicae (FLJ) on HQ-induced cytotoxicity. We demonstrated that HQ reduced cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner by administering 160 μmol/L HQ for 12 h as the positive control of cytotoxicity. The aqueous FLJ extracts significantly increased cell viability and decreased LDH release, ALT, and AST in a concentration-dependent manner compared with the corresponding HQ-treated groups in hepatic L02 cells. This result indicated that aqueous FLJ extracts could protect the cytotoxicity induced by HQ. HQ increased intracellular MDA and LPO and decreased the activities of GSH, GSH-Px, and SOD in hepatic L02 cells. In addition, aqueous FLJ extracts significantly suppressed HQ-stimulated oxidative damage. Moreover, HQ promoted DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and the level of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine and apoptosis. However, aqueous FLJ extracts reversed HQ-induced DNA damage and apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner. Overall, our results demonstrated that the toxicity of HQ was mediated by intracellular oxidative stress, which activated DNA damage and apoptosis. The findings also proved that aqueous FLJ extracts exerted protective effects against HQ-induced cytotoxicity in hepatic L02 cells.

Highlights

Hydroquinone (HQ) is a ubiquitous environmental chemical in cosmetics, medicines, the environment, and human diet; HQ can be metabolized from benzene as potentially hematotoxic, genotoxic, and carcinogenic compounds [1]
These findings indicated that HQ can damage L02 hepatocytes through a series of oxidative stress reactions, so it is possible to use some antioxidants for reducing HQ toxicity
We examined the protective effects of aqueous Flos lonicerae Japonicae (FLJ) extracts against HQ-induced cytotoxicity and their involvement in oxidative stress, DNA damage, and apoptosis

Summary

Introduction

Hydroquinone (HQ) is a ubiquitous environmental chemical in cosmetics, medicines, the environment, and human diet; HQ can be metabolized from benzene as potentially hematotoxic, genotoxic, and carcinogenic compounds [1]. ROS can lead to DNA damage by breaking DNA or producing lipid peroxidation in the membrane, thereby increasing the degrees of apoptosis and necrosis of L02 hepatocytes [1, 9,10,11]. These findings indicated that HQ can damage L02 hepatocytes through a series of oxidative stress reactions, so it is possible to use some antioxidants for reducing HQ toxicity

Methods

Results

Conclusion