College of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China.
Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230001, China.
Nutrients. 2023 Apr 30;15(9):2157. doi: 10.3390/nu15092157.
Licorice is a traditional and versatile herbal medicine and food. Glabridin (Gla) is a kind of isoflavone extracted from the licorice root, which has anti-obesity, anti-atherosclerotic, and antioxidative effects. Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a widespread liver disease induced by chronic alcohol consumption. However, studies demonstrating the effect of Gla on ALD are rare. The research explored the positive effect of Gla in C57BL/6J mice fed by the Lieber-DeCarli ethanol mice diet and HepG2 cells treated with ethanol. Gla alleviated ethanol-induced liver injury, including reducing liver vacuolation and lipid accumulation. The serum levels of inflammatory cytokines were decreased in the Gla-treated mice. The reactive oxygen species and apoptosis levels were attenuated and antioxidant enzyme activity levels were restored in ethanol-induced mice by Gla treatment. In vitro, Gla reduced ethanol-induced cytotoxicity, nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) nuclear translocation, and enhanced nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) nuclear translocation. Anisomycin (an agonist of p38 MAPK) eliminated the positive role of Gla on ethanol-caused oxidative stress and inflammation. On the whole, Gla can alleviate alcoholic liver damage via the p38 MAPK/Nrf2/NF-κB pathway and may be used as a novel health product or drug to potentially alleviate ALD.
甘草是一种传统的多功能草药和食品。甘草素（Gla）是从甘草根中提取的一种异黄酮，具有抗肥胖、抗动脉粥样硬化和抗氧化作用。酒精性肝病（ALD）是一种由慢性酒精摄入引起的广泛肝脏疾病。然而，关于 Gla 对 ALD 影响的研究很少。本研究探讨了 Gla 对 Lieber-DeCarli 乙醇饮食喂养的 C57BL/6J 小鼠和乙醇处理的 HepG2 细胞的积极作用。Gla 减轻了乙醇引起的肝损伤，包括减少肝空泡和脂质积累。Gla 处理的小鼠血清中炎症细胞因子水平降低。Gla 处理减轻了乙醇诱导的小鼠的活性氧和细胞凋亡水平，并恢复了抗氧化酶活性。在体外，Gla 减少了乙醇诱导的细胞毒性、核因子 kappa B（NF-κB）核易位，并增强了核因子（红细胞衍生 2）样 2（Nrf2）核易位。anisomycin（p38 MAPK 的激动剂）消除了 Gla 对乙醇引起的氧化应激和炎症的积极作用。总的来说，Gla 可以通过 p38 MAPK/Nrf2/NF-κB 通路减轻酒精性肝损伤，可能被用作一种新型保健品或药物，以潜在地缓解 ALD。
