Taraxasterol protects against acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity by reducing liver inflammatory response and ameliorating oxidative stress in mice

Acute liver failure is mainly caused by the overdose of acetaminophen (APAP) globally. The traditional Chinese medicinal (TCM) herb, Taraxacum, contains Taraxasterol (TAX) as one of the active components. It is a pentacyclic-triterpene compound isolated from this herb. Present work aimed to investigate the in vitro and in vivo protection effect of TAX in APAP-induced acute liver injury, and determine the potential regulatory mechamisms. The liver injury caused by APAP is attenuated by TAX, as shown by the alleviated pathological changes of mice liver and the reduced serological indexes. TAX evidently controlled the oxidative stress and liver inflammation in mice liver. In vitro studies found that TAX reversed the decrease in LO2 cell viability induced by APAP, and protected LO2 cells from APAP-induced injury. In addition, TAX reduced the secretion of inflammatory factors in RAW264.7 macrophages as induced via APAP. Besides, TAX inhibited oxidative stress in LO2 cells induced by APAP in vitro. Noteworthy, TAX enhanced protein and mRNA expressions of Nrf2 in vivo, and knockdown of Nrf2 by using adeno-associated virus (AAV)-Nrf2-KO attenuated inhibitory impact of TAX in acute liver injury induced by APAP. Also, AAV-NRF2-KO weakened the inhibitory impact of TAX against APAP-triggered liver inflammation and oxidative stress of mice liver. Moreover, TAX activated the Nrf2 signaling in APAP-induced LO2 cells, as shown by the increased nuclear Nrf2 expression together with downstream HO-1 expression in vitro. Inhibition of Nrf2 by using ML-385, anNrf2inhibitor, weakened the inhibitory effect of TAX against APAP-induced oxidative stress and cell injury in LO2 cells. Moreover, inhibition of Nrf2 attenuated anti-inflammatory effect of TAX for APAP-induced RAW264.7 cells. Collectively, TAX could protect against APAP-triggered hepatotoxicitythrough suppression of liver oxidative stress and inflammatory response in mice.