Hepatoprotective effect of a polysaccharide from Radix Cyathulae officinalis Kuan against CCl4-induced acute liver injury in rat

Radix Cyathulae officinalis Kuan, one of the most well-known Chinese medicine, is widely used for invigorating livers and kidneys. The aim of this study is to investigate the hepatoprotective effects of polysaccharide from Radix Cyathulae officinalis Kuan (RCPS) against CCl4-induced liver damage in rat. In vivo experiment showed that oral administrated of RCPS significantly decreased the production of ALT, AST, ALP, LDH, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, MDA in serum, and reduced the expression of TLR4, P-iκBα, iκBα, NF-κBp65 in hepatic tissue. RCPS pretreatment also increased antioxidant enzyme activities Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) and non-enzyme antioxidants glutathione (GSH), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) compared with CCl4-induced. Furthermore, hepatic histopathological changes induced by CCl4 were significantly normalized by RCPS pretreatment. These results indicated that RCPS had hepatoprotective effect against CCl4-induced acute liver injure.