Baode Shena,, Hongge Chen a,, Chengying Shenb, Pinghua Xua, Juanjuan Lib, Gang Shenb, Hailong Yuana,*, Jin Hana,*

a Department of Pharmacy, 302 Hospital of PLA, Beijing 100039, PR China

b Pharmacy College, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 611139, PR China

Abstract 

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Herpetospermum caudigerum (HCD) is traditionally used for the treatment of liver diseases, cholic diseases, and dyspepsia as a well-known Tibetan medicine in China. The present study was designed to investigate the hepatoprotective effect of HCD and ascertain its active ingredients and possible mechanism.

Materials and methods: Mice were orally administrated with different parts (seeds, testa and kernel) and fractions of HCD. The hepatoprotective activities of different parts (seeds, testa and kernel) and three fractions (petroleum ether fraction, ethyl acetate fraction and aqueous fraction) with different polarities of HCD and herpetrione (HPE) isolated from HCD were determined using a mouse model of CCl4-induced liver injury based on the analysis of serum ALT and AST activities and the changes of antioxidant parameters like malondialdehyde (MDA) content, glutathione (GSH) level, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities in the liver. Moreover, the chemical analysis of different parts and fractions of HCD was later analyzed by HPLC.

Results: Our results showed that the ethyl acetate fraction and HPE significantly alleviated liver injury as indicated by the decreased levels of serum ALT and AST and reduce the pathological tissue damage induced by CCl4. Moreover, they decreased the MDA content and increased the levels of SOD, GSH and GSH-Px. Chemical analysis indicated that the ethyl acetate fraction were rich in HPE.

Conclusions: The lignans extract of Herpetospermum caudigerum are effective for the prevention of CCl4-induced hepatic damage in mice and HPE may be partially responsible for the pharmacological effect of hepatoprotection. The hepatoprotective effect may be related to its free radical scavenging effect, inhibiting lipid peroxidation and increasing antioxidant activity.

Keywords Herpetospermum caudigerum; Lignans extract; Hepatoprotective effects; Antioxidant