The MOE Key Laboratory for Standardization of Chinese Medicines and The SATCM Key Laboratory for New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicines, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Biosci Trends. 2010 Apr;4(2):79-85.
Dioscorea bulbifera L. is a medicinal plant. The present study was undertaken to investigate the hepatotoxicity induced by D. bulbifera in mice. Through the acute toxicity of various extracts including the EtOAc fraction (EF) and the non-EtOAc fraction (Non-EF) from ethanol, and the ethanol itself, we found that the EF contains the toxic ingredients of D. bulbifera rhizome. On this basis, to study the hepatotoxicity induced by the toxic ingredients, mice were treated with 0.5% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-Na) alone or the EF of D. bulbifera rhizome at doses of 80, 160, 320, and 480 mg/kg once daily i.g. for fourteen consecutive administrations. Serum samples were collected for determination of the biomarkers for liver injury, such as, alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transanimase (AST). Hepatic tissues were used to assay for the level of lipid peroxide (LPO), amounts of antioxidants such as glutathione, and activities of antioxidant-related enzymes for liver oxidative-antioxidative status in mice. The results showed that ALT and AST were significantly elevated after fourteen consecutive administrations of the EF of D. bulbifera rhizome. In addition, the level of LPO increased remarkably, while the glutathione amounts, and the activities of the antioxidant-related and glutathione-related enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), glutathione reductase (GR) and glutamate-cysteine ligase (GCL) of hepatic tissues all decreased conspicuously, in livers of mice treated with the EF of D. bulbifera rhizome. Taken together, our results indicate that the EF contains the main toxic ingredients of D. bulbifera rhizome, and the mechanism of hepatotoxicity induced by it may be due to liver oxidative stress injury in mice.
盾叶薯蓣是一种药用植物。本研究旨在探讨盾叶薯蓣根茎的不同提取物（包括乙酸乙酯部分[EF]和非乙酸乙酯部分[Non-EF]）及乙醇本身对小鼠的肝毒性。通过急性毒性实验，我们发现 EF 含有盾叶薯蓣根茎的有毒成分。在此基础上，为研究有毒成分引起的肝毒性，我们用 0.5%羧甲基纤维素钠（CMC-Na）单独或 80、160、320 和 480mg/kg 的盾叶薯蓣根茎 EF 灌胃处理小鼠，每天一次，连续 14 天。收集血清样本，测定肝损伤标志物，如丙氨酸转氨酶（ALT）和天冬氨酸转氨酶（AST）。取肝组织，测定脂质过氧化物（LPO）水平、谷胱甘肽等抗氧化剂含量、抗氧化相关酶活性，以评估小鼠肝氧化应激状态。结果表明，连续 14 天给予盾叶薯蓣根茎 EF 后，ALT 和 AST 明显升高。此外，LPO 水平显著升高，而肝组织中谷胱甘肽含量、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GPx）、谷胱甘肽-S-转移酶（GST）、谷胱甘肽还原酶（GR）和谷氨酰半胱氨酸连接酶（GCL）等抗氧化相关和谷胱甘肽相关酶的活性明显降低。综上所述，我们的结果表明，EF 含有盾叶薯蓣根茎的主要有毒成分，其引起肝毒性的机制可能是导致小鼠肝氧化应激损伤。
