Protective effects of Ephedra pachyclada extract on mouse models of carbon tetrachloride- induced chronic and acute liver failure.

Inflammation and oxidation are two important factors in the pathogenesis of liver. Ephedra pachyclada (EP) is a traditional medical herb that has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activities. During this study, anti-oxidant activities of the EP extract was measured in vitro by 2,2'- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and β-Carotene bleaching assays. Then, we examined possible in vivo hepatoprotective effects of EP extract on mouse models of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced chronic and acute liver failure. To produce mouse models of chronic and acute liver injuries, male SW1 mice were interaperitoneally injected with 1ml/kg body weight (bw) CCl4 biweekly for 42 days and a single dose of 2ml/kg bw, respectively. In the experimental groups, mouse models were treated with low (140mg/kg bw) and high (1400mg/kg bw) doses of the EP extract. Olive oil and water treated mice were considered as controls during model derivation and EP extract treatment respectively. The results showed the antioxidant activity of EP extract and a significant reduction of all parameters of CCl4-induced liver injury such as relative liver weight, necrosis, fibrosis, inflammation, and serum aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in mouse models of acute and chronic liver injury treated with EP extract. Therefore, EP induces its hepatoprotective effects probably by suppressing oxidative stress and inhibit inflammation in the liver and is able to protect the liver against CCl4-induced acute and chronic injuries.