Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (Vitaceae) extract inhibits a progression of carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic injury in the mice.

Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (Maxim.) Trautv. (Vitaceae) has been used in Japanese herbal folk medicine to treat liver disease. The objective of this study is to evaluate the antihepatotoxic effect of A. brevipedunculata in the mice. An aqueous fraction was extracted by immersing the berries of the plant material in 40% ethanol for six months, followed by removing ethanol. Daily free access to the aqueous extract as drinking water greatly reduced the severity of hepatic injury, characterized by centrilobular necrosis, cytoplasmic vacuolation, cellular swelling, inflammation, and fibrosis in the mice receiving a nonlethal dose of carbon tetrachloride twice weekly during nine weeks. In addition, such a feeding regimen decreased the elevated levels of plasma glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase and glutamate pyruvate transaminase in the carbon tetrachloride-administered mice. These results suggest that the feeding regimen with A. brevipedunculata extract inhibited a progression of hepatic injury induced by carbon tetrachloride.