2. Academic Validation
  3. In vivo hepatoprotective activity and the underlying mechanism of chebulinic acid from Terminalia chebula fruit

In vivo hepatoprotective activity and the underlying mechanism of chebulinic acid from Terminalia chebula fruit

  • Phytomedicine. 2021 Mar:83:153479. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2021.153479.
Xin-Hong Feng 1,  Hai-Yan Xu 1,  Jian-Ye Wang 1,  Shen Duan 1,  Ying-Chun Wang 2,  Chao-Mei Ma 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Biotechnology of Ministry of Education, and State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Regulation and Breeding of Grassland Livestock, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, China.
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Biotechnology of Ministry of Education, and State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Regulation and Breeding of Grassland Livestock, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, China. Electronic address: ycwang@imu.edu.cn.
  • 3 Key Laboratory of Forage and Endemic Crop Biotechnology of Ministry of Education, and State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Regulation and Breeding of Grassland Livestock, School of Life Sciences, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, China. Electronic address: cmma@imu.edu.cn.
PMID: 33561764 DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2021.153479
Abstract

Background: The fruit of Terminalia chebula Retz. is one of the most widely used herbal drug in Traditional medicine prescriptions including those for liver diseases. In the screening of bioactive constituents that have potential hepatoprotective activity, chebulinic acid (CA) which is a major chemical constituent of T. chebula fruit showed potent activity.

Purpose: This work was conducted to investigate the hepatoprotective activity and mechanisms of CA.

Methods: The hepatoprotective effect of CA was examined on hepatotoxic models of cells, zebrafish larvae and mice caused by tert-butyl hydrogen peroxide (t-BHP), acetaminophen (APAP) and CCl4, respectively.

Results: Pretreatment with CA could prevent t-BHP-induced damage in L-02 hepatocytes by blocking the production of ROS, reducing LDH levels and enhancing HO-1 and NQO1 expression via MAPK/Nrf2 signaling pathway. In animal experiments, CA significantly protected mice from CCl4-induced liver injury, as demonstrated by reduced ALT, AST and MDA levels, enhanced SOD activity, improved liver histopathological changes, and the activation of the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway. CA metabolized to chebulic acid isomers with DPPH radical scavenging activity. In a transgenic zebrafish line with liver specific expression of DsRed RFP, CA diminished the hepatotoxicity induced by 10 mM APAP.

Conclusion: Experiments in cell and two animal models demonstrated consistent results and comprehensively expounded the hepatoprotective effects of CA.

Keywords

Chebulinic acid; Hepatoprotective activity; Nrf2; Terminalia chebula.

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