Protective effects of astaxanthin on acute alcohol liver injury in mice

Objective: To study the protective effects of astaxanthin against the acute alcohol liver injury in mice and research its possible mechanism for offering scientific basis of its health function.Methods: Randomly to distribute 60 male mices to control group,acute alcohol liver injury model group,DDB group(15 mg/kg) and low,middle,high dose group s of astaxanthin(10,15,20 mg/kg),and to determine and compare liver index between groups,with serum alanine transaminase(ALT),aspartate transaminase(AST),superoxide dismutase(SOD),glutathione perioxidase(GSH-px) activities,malondialdehyde(MDA) content,liver SOD,GSH-px activities,MDA content and liver tissue pathology index to be assayed. Results: Treatment with different dose astaxanthin could significantly increase serum and liver tissue SOD,GSH-px activities(P0.01),decrease serum ALT,AST levels(P0.01) and MDA content in liver tissue(P0.01).Pathology index showed that astaxanthin could ameliorate the liver injury in different degree. Conclusion: Astaxanthin showed protective effects on the acute alcohol liver injury induced by alcohol in mice.