The Protective Effect of Stauntonia Chinensis Polysaccharide on CCl4-induced Acute Liver Injuries in Mice

OBJECTIVE To investigate the protective effect of Stauntonia chinensis polysaccharides (SCP) on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced acute liver injuries in mice. METHODS KUNMING MICE WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO THREE GROUPS: the control group, the pathological model group, and the SCP group. The SCP group was further divided into three subgroups based on SCP treatment: Low dosage (50 mg/kg), medium dosage (100 mg/kg) and high dosage (200 mg/kg). After being fed for 7 days, mixed-edible-oil solution was intraperitoneally injected into the control group, while the other two groups were injected with 0.15% CCl4 mixed with mixed-edible-oil. Sera were collected from mice 24 h later to determine the activity of serum alanine transaminase (ALT). Mice were then sacrificed to prepare liver homogenate. Levels of liver malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and nitric oxide (NO) were determined. Pathological changes in livers were also analyzed. RESULTS SCP significantly reduced the ALT activity in the serum and inhibited the decrease of serum GSH, GSH-PX and SOD and rose the levels of MDA and NO (P<0.05-0.01). This lessened the pathological damage to the liver tissues. CONCLUSION SCP protects against CCl4-induced acute liver injuries in mice.