Chunggan extract, a traditional herbal formula, ameliorated alcohol-induced hepatic injury in rat model

Table 1 Herbal prescription of Chunggan extract

Herbal name	Scientific name	Relative amounts (g)
Artemisiae Capillaris Herba	Artemisia capillaries Thunberg	5
Trionycis Carapax	Trionyx sinensis Wiegmann	5
Raphani Semen	Raphanus sativus Linne	5
Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba	Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz	3
Hoelen	Poria cocos Wolf	3
Alismatis Rhizoma	Alisma orientalis (Sam.) Juzepczuk	3
Atractylodis Rhizoma	Atractylodes chinensis Koidzumi	3
Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix	Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge	3
Polyporus	Polyporus umbellatus Fries	2
Aurantii Immaturus Fructus	Poncirus trifoliate Rafin	2
Amomi Fructus	Amomum villosum Lour	2
Glycyrrhizae Radix	Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.	1
Aucklandiae Radix	Aucklandia lappa Decne.	1

Table 2 Body weight, organ weights, serum biochemistry parameters and oxidative stress parameters

Groups	Normal	Alcohol	Alcohol with CGX treatment		CGX 200
			100	200
Body mass (g)	347.3 ± 15.6	325.4 ± 20.4a	327.8 ± 24.6	329.5 ± 16.0	332.3 ± 16.5
Liver mass (g)	10.2 ± 0.7	10.1 ± 1.5	9.3 ± 1.2	9.6 ± 0.7	9.2 ± 0.6
Spleen mass (g)	0.8 ± 0.1	0.8 ± 0.1	0.7 ± 0.1	0.8 ± 0.1	0.8 ± 0.1
Liver mass (%)	2.9 ± 0.1	3.1 ± 0.5	2.8 ± 0.3	2.9 ± 0.1	2.8 ± 0.1
Spleen mass (%)	0.2 ± 0.0	0.2 ± 0.0	0.2 ± 0.0	0.2 ± 0.0	0.2 ± 0.0
AST (IU/L)	119.7 ± 18.1	226.3 ± 120.2a	125.1 ± 18.1c	105.3 ± 9.8c	106.7 ± 5.2
ALT (IU/L)	45.8 ± 2.5	91.0 ± 39.5a	70.3 ± 10.9c	54.2 ± 6.5c	45.7 ± 7.7
ALP (IU/L)	203.0 ± 29.7	269.9 ± 111.2	190.7 ± 33.4	174.9 ± 17.3	162.8 ± 20.0a
LDH (IU/L)	1406.4 ± 68.3	1646.1 ± 224.3a	1338.0 ± 444.6	1009.6 ± 164.1d	925.2 ± 115.2a

Rats were orally administered with alcohol (10 mL of 30% ethanol/kg) with/without CGX (100 or 200 mg/kg) for 4 wk. Body weight were recorded twice weekly during experiment. At the end of the experiment, whole blood was collected and liver and spleen were removed. Data were expressed as mean ± SD (n = 6-9);

^aP < 0.05 vs normal group;

^cP < 0.05 vs alcohol group;

^dP < 0.01 vs alcohol group. AST: Aspartate aminotransferase; ALT: Alanine aminotransferase; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase; LDH: Lactic dehydrogenase.

Table 3 Relative gene expressions in hepatic tissues

Groups	Normal	Alcohol only	Alcohol with CGX treatment		CGX 200 only
			100	200
α-SMA	1.00	1.26 ± 0.51a	1.26 ± 0.42	0.97 ± 0.18c	1.19 ± 0.18
ColT1a1	1.00	1.72 ± 0.08b	1.18 ± 0.14	1.01 ± 0.01d	0.94 ± 0.53
ColT1a2	1.00	1.63 ± 0.80	0.81 ± 0.10d	0.74 ± 0.25d	1.01 ± 0.41
TIMP-1	1.00	1.64 ± 0.11b	0.78 ± 0.04d	0.79 ± 0.02d	1.16 ± 0.06
TIMP-2	1.00	1.72 ± 0.18b	0.92 ± 0.03d	0.92 ± 0.12d	1.43 ± 0.14b
MMP-2	1.00	0.84 ± 0.63	1.23 ± 0.30c	1.27 ± 0.17c	1.27 ± 0.48
MMP-9	1.00	0.72 ± 0.34	1.00 ± 0.81	1.10 ± 0.16c	1.04 ± 0.78
CYP2E1	1.00	1.33 ± 0.04b	0.87 ± 0.03d	0.84 ± 0.07d	0.90 ± 0.14
ALDH	1.00	0.73 ± 0.18a	0.81 ± 0.27	0.83 ± 0.13	1.13 ± 0.38
TLR-4	1.00	1.44 ± 0.27a	1.22 ± 0.08d	0.95 ± 0.24c	1.06 ± 0.04
CCL 5	1.00	1.17 ± 0.07b	1.06 ± 0.35	0.74 ± 0.31	1.08 ± 0.06
MCP-1	1.00	1.48 ± 0.21b	1.26 ± 0.10d	1.50 ± 0.13	1.63 ± 0.09

Rats were orally administered with alcohol (10 mL of 30% ethanol/kg) with/without CGX (100 or 200 mg/kg) for 4 wk. At the end of the experiment, liver tissues were collected for mRNA expressions by real-time PCR. Data were expressed as mean of fold changes ± SD (n = 4)

^aP < 0.05,

^bP < 0.01 vs normal group,

^cP < 0.05,

^dP < 0.01 vs alcohol group. ALDH: Acetaldehydedehydrogenas; CCL 5: Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand-5; ColT1a1: Collagen type 1a1; ColT1a2: Collagen type 1a2; CYP2E1: cytochrome p450 2E1; MCP-1: Monocyte chemotactic protein-1; MMP-2: Matrix metalloproteinase-2; MMP-9: Matrix metalloproteinase-9; TIMP-1: Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1; TIMP-2: Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2; α-SMA: alpha-smooth muscle actin.