Yin Nana, Pang Jian, Liu Xiangyan
Department of Operating Room, First People's Hospital of Changde, Changde, China.
Department of General Surgery, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
BMC Pharmacol Toxicol. 2025 May 28;26(1):112. doi: 10.1186/s40360-025-00951-x.
Hepatic injury is a common pathological process for a wide spectrum of liver diseases. Quercetin has been found to counteract this process by scavenging free radicals, but its therapeutic effect is limited due to poor water-solubility. Thus, the question of how to deliver quercetin to a target organ effectively with minimal side effects has remained a clinical challenge. Our previous research findings indicate that when quercetin is delivered in the form of liposomal nanoparticles, its targeting efficiency to the liver is significantly enhanced. Although quercetin liposomal nanoparticles have been shown to improve the therapeutic effect on liver damage compared to traditional quercetin treatment, the optimal dosage of liposomal quercetin still warrants further exploration. The aim of this study was therefore to ascertain whether there are differences in the therapeutic effects on liver damage at different dosages of quercetin liposomes and to determine the optimal dosage.
62 rats modeled with liver injury were enrolled and distributed into 4 groups, where they were treated with quercetin liposome nanoparticles, blank liposome nanoparticles, simple quercetin, and normal saline accordingly. Serum samples were measured for liver function indicators, and tissue samples were analyzed by pathohistological examination. Statistical analysis was performed to quantify the difference between the experimental and control groups.
Both liver function and histopathological examinations demonstrated enhanced therapeutic effects as the concentration of quercetin liposome drugs increased. Moreover, compared to traditional quercetin treatments, liposomal quercetin nanoparticles of varying concentrations uniformly provide better liver protection, with the highest dose group showing the best therapeutic effect. In addition, low concentration carrier liposome nanoparticles also showed a certain protective effect on the liver damage in rats.
Liposomal quercetin nanoparticles exhibit superior efficacy in liver protection and repair compared to pure quercetin, with the highest dose group showing the best therapeutic effect.
肝损伤是多种肝脏疾病常见的病理过程。已发现槲皮素可通过清除自由基来对抗这一过程，但其治疗效果因水溶性差而受到限制。因此，如何以最小的副作用将槲皮素有效递送至靶器官仍是一项临床挑战。我们之前的研究结果表明，当槲皮素以脂质体纳米颗粒的形式递送时，其对肝脏的靶向效率显著提高。尽管与传统的槲皮素治疗相比，槲皮素脂质体纳米颗粒已显示出对肝损伤的治疗效果有所改善，但脂质体槲皮素的最佳剂量仍有待进一步探索。因此，本研究的目的是确定不同剂量的槲皮素脂质体对肝损伤的治疗效果是否存在差异，并确定最佳剂量。
纳入62只肝损伤模型大鼠，分为4组，分别给予槲皮素脂质体纳米颗粒、空白脂质体纳米颗粒、单纯槲皮素和生理盐水治疗。检测血清样本中的肝功能指标，并通过病理组织学检查分析组织样本。进行统计分析以量化实验组和对照组之间的差异。
肝功能和组织病理学检查均表明，随着槲皮素脂质体药物浓度的增加，治疗效果增强。此外，与传统的槲皮素治疗相比，不同浓度的槲皮素脂质体纳米颗粒均能更好地保护肝脏，最高剂量组的治疗效果最佳。此外，低浓度的载体脂质体纳米颗粒对大鼠肝损伤也显示出一定的保护作用。
与纯槲皮素相比，槲皮素脂质体纳米颗粒在肝脏保护和修复方面表现出更好的疗效，最高剂量组的治疗效果最佳。
