Dietary zerumbone ameliorates hepatotoxin-mediated acute and chronic liver injury. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Dietary zerumbone, a sesquiterpene, ameliorates hepatotoxin-mediated acute and chronic liver injury in mice.
Phytother Res. 2019 May ;33(5):1538-1550. Epub 2019 Mar 14. PMID: 30868670
Jong-Won Kim
Acute liver injury (ALI) is a life-threatening clinical syndrome. Long-lasting liver injury can lead to chronic hepatic inflammation and fibrogenic responses. Zerumbone (ZER), the main constituent of rhizomes of Zingiber zerumbet Smith, has a variety of functions including anticancer activity. We investigated the role of ZER on the progression of hepatotoxin-induced liver injury. Single or repeated injection of CClwas used to induce acute or chronic liver injury, respectively. Mice were orally administered with ZER (10, 50 mg/kg) during the experimental period. Histopathologic analysis and serum biochemical levels revealed that ZER had hepatoprotective activities against ALI. Similar effects of ZER on injured livers were confirmed by analyses of inflammation and apoptosis-related genes. Western blot analysis showedthat protein levels of apoptotic molecules were decreased, whereas antiapoptotic protein levels were conversely increased in injured livers treated with ZER. Furthermore, chronic liver injury and its associated fibrogenesis in mice were reduced by ZER treatment. These findings from our in vivo experiments further indicate that ZER could alleviate hepatocellular toxicity and inhibit activation of primary hepatic stellate cells. Our results suggest that ZER might have potential as a safe and prophylactic alternative to prevent acute and chronic liver injury.