The effect of Chinese hepatoprotective medicines on experimental liver injury in mice.

The purpose of this study was to compare the hepatoprotective effects of seven Chinese herbal compounds/mixtures on four known hepatotoxicants in mice. These compounds include fulvotomentosides oleanolic acid, total saponins of Panax japonicus (Jgs), total saponins of Panax notoginseng (Ngs), sweroside, oxymatrine, and dimethyl dicarboxylate biphenyl (DDB). All have previously been reported to exhibit hepatoprotective effects. Acute liver injury was produced in male CF-1 mice by CCl4, acetaminophen, cadmium chloride and allyl alcohol. Liver damage was assessed by quantifying serum activities of sorbitol dehydrogenase and alanine aminotransferase, as well as by histopathological examination. Fulvomentosides markedly decreased the toxicity produced by all four hepatotoxicants; oleanic acid also remarkably decreased acetaminophen, CCl4 and Cd-induced hepatotoxicity, but had no effect on allyl alcohol; total saponins of Panax japonicus and Panax notoginseng had moderate hepatoprotective effects on these models except that total saponins of Panax japonicus markedly decreased allyl alcohol toxicity; sweroside decreased Cd and CCl4 toxicity but had no effect on the other two hepatotoxicants; oxymatrine only decreased allyl alcohol toxicity; whereas DDB did not protect against any of the hepatotoxicants. The mechanism(s) by which these compounds/mixtures protect against different types of hepatotoxicants requires further investigation. In conclusion, of the seven compounds examined, fulvotomentoside and oleanolic acid appear to be the most effective in protecting against chemical-induced liver injury.