Lee Eun-Sil, Lee Hye-Eun, Shin Ji-Young, Yoon Sik, Moon Jeon-Ok
College of Pharmacy, Pusan National University, Kumjeonggu, Pusan 609-735, Korea.
J Pharm Pharmacol. 2003 Aug;55(8):1169-74. doi: 10.1211/0022357021396.
Quercetin, one of the most abundant flavonoids in human diet has been reported to exhibit a wide range of pharmacological properties. In this study, we investigated the protective effect of quercetin on hepatic injury induced by dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) in rats. Treatment with DMN caused a significant decrease in body and liver weight. Oral administration of quercetin (10 mg kg(-1) daily for 4 weeks) remarkably prevented this DMN-induced loss in body and liver weight and inhibited the elevation of serum alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase and bilirubin levels. Quercetin also increased serum albumin and hepatic glutathione levels and reduced the hepatic level of malondialdehyde. Furthermore, DMN-induced elevation of hydroxyproline content was reduced in the quercetin treated rats, the result of which was consistent with a reduction in type I collagen mRNA production and histological analysis of liver tissue stained with Sirius red. A reduction in hepatic stellate cell activation, as assessed by alpha-smooth muscle actin staining, was associated with quercetin treatment as well as a reduction in transforming growth factor-beta1 expression. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that quercetin exhibited in-vivo hepatoprotective and anti-fibrogenic effects against DMN-induced liver injury and suggest that quercetin may be useful in the preventing the development of hepatic fibrosis.
槲皮素是人类饮食中最丰富的类黄酮之一，据报道具有广泛的药理特性。在本研究中，我们调查了槲皮素对二甲基亚硝胺（DMN）诱导的大鼠肝损伤的保护作用。用DMN处理导致体重和肝脏重量显著下降。口服槲皮素（每天10 mg kg⁻¹，共4周）可显著防止DMN诱导的体重和肝脏重量损失，并抑制血清丙氨酸转氨酶、天冬氨酸转氨酶和胆红素水平的升高。槲皮素还可提高血清白蛋白和肝脏谷胱甘肽水平，并降低肝脏丙二醛水平。此外，在经槲皮素处理的大鼠中，DMN诱导的羟脯氨酸含量升高有所降低，其结果与I型胶原蛋白mRNA产生的减少以及用天狼星红染色的肝组织的组织学分析一致。通过α-平滑肌肌动蛋白染色评估，肝星状细胞活化的减少与槲皮素治疗以及转化生长因子-β1表达的减少有关。总之，这些结果表明，槲皮素对DMN诱导的肝损伤具有体内肝保护和抗纤维化作用，并表明槲皮素可能有助于预防肝纤维化的发展。
