The protective effect of echinacoside on acute liver injury in rats

Objective To investigate the protective effect of echinacoside on acute liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride(CCl4) in rats.Methods Rats were randomly divided into three groups. Group 1 was injected with CCl4 to establish acute liver injury models. Group 2 was treated with an intragastric administration of echinacoside solutions for 7 days before CCl4 exposure. And group 3 received a single dose of corn oil as a control. At 24 h after CCl4 injection, all rats were sacrificed to collect blood samples for ALT, AST examination and to remove liver tissues for analysis of MDA concentration and SOD activity as well as caspase-3 activity and TNF-α level.Results Acute liver injury in rats could be successfully induced by CCl4 intraperitoneal injection, as demonstrated by increased serum ALT, AST levels and severe histological observations. In addition, hepatic caspase-3 and TNF-α were increased remarkably following CCl4 injection. Pretreatment with echinacoside indicated its potent protective effects on acute liver injury, as demonstrated by a significant decrease in ALT, AST and MDA, reduction in caspase-3 and TNF-α level.Conclusion These results indicate that echinacoside has an obviously protective effect on acute liver injury induced by CCl4, which may be due to its antioxidative stress effects.