Protective effect of ginsenoside Rg1 on immune-mediated liver injury in mice

ObjectiveTo explore protective effects and mechanism of ginsenoside Rg1(Rg1) on immune-mediated liver injury in mice.MethodsHigh,medium and low Rg1 dose(60,30,15 mg/kg) group were established by gavage once a day for 15 days and mice liver injury model was established by tail vein injection of 20 mg/kg concanavalin A(Con A).Serum alanine transaminase(ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase(AST) of the mice were examined by using automatic biochemical analyzer.Serum interferon gamma(IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF-α) were determined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA),and liver tissue was histopathologically examined with hematoxylin-exsin(HE)staining.ResultsCompared with the control group,serum AST(235.5±79.9 U/L),ALT(262.1±63.9 U/L),TNF-α(46.3±13.3 pg/mL),and IFN-γ(165.3±86.1 pg/mL)were significantly increased in model group(P< 0.01 for all).Compared with the model group,serum AST(57.1±19.9 U/L)ALT(44.1±16.2 U/L),TNF-α(12.9±6.1 pg/mL),and IFN-γ(55.06±29.5 pg/mL)were obviously decreased(P<0.01 for all)in high dose Rg1 treatment group.Histological observation showed that the degree of liver injury in the mice of each Rg1 dose group was obviously lighter than that of the model group.ConclusionRg1 has certain protective effect on immune-mediated liver injury and its mechanism may be related to the reduction of inflammatory cytokines and toxic effect of T lymphocytes.