Protective Effects of Matrine on Liver Injury Induced by Concanavalin A in Mice

Objective To investigate the protective effec ts of matrine on liver injury in mice i nduced by concanavalin A(Con A).Methods Forty -eight NIH mice were randomly d ivided into 4groups:normal control group(group A),mod-el group(group B ),matrine 25mg /kg group(group C ),matrine 12.5mg /kg group(group D)and bifendate group(group E ).Excepts those in group A ,mice in oth er groups were injected with Con A 20mg /kg via the tail vein at the first day of experiment.Group C and g roup D were injected with matrine at t he dosage of 25mg /kg and 12.5mg /kg via the tail vein respectively.Group E w ere administered with bifendate by g astric perfusion at the dose of 150mg /kg.All the drugs were given one time a day for 3days continuously.In the 4th hour afte r the last administration,mice were injected with Con A again at the same dosage.Pl asma aminotransferase(ALT)activity,interferon -gamma (IFN -γ)and tumor necrosis factor alpha(TNF -α)contents were measured in the 8th hou r after injection of Con A,and histop athological examination was also performed for l iver tissue.Results ALT activity,IFN -γand TNF -αcontents in groups C and D were obviously lower than those in group B(P0.01);hepatic histopathological changes were alleviated in both groups C and D.Conclusion Matrine has a good protective effect on liver injury induced by Con A in mic e;its therapeutic mecha-nism may be related to the inhibition of the activation of T -lymphocytes a nd the release of IFN -γand TNF -α.