IMR Press / FBL / Volume 28 / Issue 11 / DOI: 10.31083/j.fbl2811309
Open Access Original Research
Gentiana Scabra Bge Extract (GSE) Protects Against Alcoholic Liver Disease by Regulating the TLR4/NF-κB Pathway in Mice
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1 School of Pharmacy, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, 130000 Changchun, Jilin, China
*Correspondence: 735110462@qq.com (Lili Weng); ccyeqiu@163.com (Ye Qiu)
These authors contributed equally.
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2023, 28(11), 309; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.fbl2811309
Submitted: 30 March 2023 | Revised: 1 July 2023 | Accepted: 25 July 2023 | Published: 28 November 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hepatotoxicity: Molecular Mechanisms and Pathophysiology)
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: Alcohol abuse leads to alcoholic liver disease (ALD), for which no effective treatment is yet known. Gentiana Scabra Bge is a traditional Chinese medicine; its extract has a significant liver protection effect, but its effects on the mechanism of improving alcohol-induced toxicity remain unclear. Therefore, this study used cell and mouse models to investigate how Gentiana Scabra Bge extract (GSE) might affect the TLT4/NF-κB inflammation pathway in ALD. Methods: In mice, we induced the alcoholic liver injury model by applying alcohol and induced the inflammatory cell model by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced macrophages. Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and interleukin 1β (IL-1β), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels were measured in liver tissue; we also performed histological analysis of liver tissue sections to assess the hepatoprotective effect of GSE on alcohol. Using real-time fluorescence quantification, we determined the expression of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) mRNA levels; we used Western blotting to detect the expression of TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway-related proteins. Results: We demonstrate that GSE decreased AST and ALT activity, ameliorated liver dysfunction, decreased cytokine levels, and reduced LPS-induced cellular inflammation. In addition, GSE protected mouse liver cells from the inflammatory response by reducing alcohol-induced liver pathological damage and downregulating genes and proteins such as nuclear factors. Conclusions: GSE can attenuate liver injury in mice through the TLR4/NF-κB pathway by inhibiting the activation of nuclear factors.

Keywords
Gentiana Scabra Bge extract
alcoholic liver injury
lipopolysaccharide
alcohol
inflammation
Funding
YDZJ202201ZYTS636/Jilin Provincial Department of Science and Technology’s Science and Technology Project
Figures
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