Effect of co-administration of Angelicae gigantis radix and Lithospermi radix on rat hepatic injury induced by carbon tetrachloride

Chi-Yeon Lim; Bu-Yeo Kim; Se-Hyun Lim; Su-In Cho

Articles

Abstract

Pharmacognosy Magazine,2015,11,42,395-403.

DOI:10.4103/0973-1296.153095

Published:March 2015

Type:Original Article

Authors:

Author(s) affiliations:

Chi-Yeon Lim¹, Bu-Yeo Kim², Se-Hyun Lim³, Su-In Cho⁴
¹ Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, Dongguk University, Ilsan, Korea
² Department of Medical Research, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejon 305-701, Korea
³ Department of Nursing, School of Public Health, Far East University, Chungbuk 369-700, Korea
⁴ Department of Korean Medicine, School of Korean Medicine, Pusan National University, Busan 626-870, Korea

Abstract:

Background: Co-administration of Angelicae gigantis radix (AGR) and Lithospermi radix (LR) has been commonly applied to patients to treat cardiac and hepatic disorders. Individual bioactivities of these herbal medicines have been widely investigated, but the hepatoprotective effects of co-treatment of AGR and LR have yet to be clarified. Objective: The present study investigated the protective effects of extracts of AGR and LR on carbon tetrachloride (CCl ₄ ) induced hepatic injury. Materials and Methods: In this study, we measured the hepatoprotective activity of individual and co-treatment of the two herbal medicines on hepatic injury induced by CCl ₄ by measuring different biochemical parameters such as serum aspartate aminotransaminase (AST) and serum alanine aminotransaminase (ALT). Microarray technology also used to compare ontological difference with individual and co-treatment of these two. Results: Combined treatment with AGR and LR (AGR + LR) decreased AST and ALT level in serum which demonstrate hepatoprotective effect of the therapy. When the effect of AGR and LR according to treatment conditions was measured, co-treatment showed the most prominent effect on hepatic injury by CCl ₄ rather than individual treatment condition. We further defined gene set that could be the molecular target of herbal effect on hepatic injury by CCl ₄ using bioinformatical analysis of interaction network. Highly recovered genes by treating AGR + LR play significant roles in response to hepatic injury induced by CCl ₄ . Conclusion: Combined treatment with AGR and LR showed synergistic protective effects on the CCl ₄ -induced rat hepatic tissue injury.