Screening of Herbal Medicines for Recovery of Acetaminophen-induced Hepatotoxicity

Screening of Herbal Medicines for Recovery of Acetaminophen-induced Hepatotoxicity

This study was conducted to quantitatively evaluate the recovery effects of herbal medicines on acetaminophen- induced hepatotoxicity. In the present study, the recovery effects of 251 herbal medicines on THLE-2 cells that had been damaged by acetaminophen were evaluated using an MTS assay. THLE-2 cells were cultured in 96-well plates and then pretreated with or without 60 μM acetaminophen (IC50 value: 35.84) for 1 hr. Next, different herbal medicines were added to the wells, after which the cells were reincubated at 37℃ for 24 hr. After first round of screening, the candidate herbal medicines were selected based on a recovery rate of greater than 40% and their efficacy were then determined by dose response kinetic analysis. Among these extracts, 8 herbal medicines (Terminalia chebula, Pueraria lobata, Acronychia laurifolia, Lopatherum gracile, Oroxylum indicum, Cynanchum atratum, Senecio scandens, and Sophora flavescens) had a strong recovery effect on acetaminophen-induced damage in THLE-2 cells. Dose response non-linear regression analysis demonstrated that Senecio scandens showed the best recovery rate (98%), and that its EC50 was 19.54 ng/mL. Additional studies of these herbal medicines should be conducted to determine if they possess novel therapeutic agents for the prevention or treatment of liver disorders.

This study was conducted to quantitatively evaluate the recovery effects of herbal medicines on acetaminophen- induced hepatotoxicity. In the present study, the recovery effects of 251 herbal medicines on THLE-2 cells that had been damaged by acetaminophen were evaluated using an MTS assay. THLE-2 cells were cultured in 96-well plates and then pretreated with or without 60 μM acetaminophen (IC50 value: 35.84) for 1 hr. Next, different herbal medicines were added to the wells, after which the cells were reincubated at 37℃ for 24 hr. After first round of screening, the candidate herbal medicines were selected based on a recovery rate of greater than 40% and their efficacy were then determined by dose response kinetic analysis. Among these extracts, 8 herbal medicines (Terminalia chebula, Pueraria lobata, Acronychia laurifolia, Lopatherum gracile, Oroxylum indicum, Cynanchum atratum, Senecio scandens, and Sophora flavescens) had a strong recovery effect on acetaminophen-induced damage in THLE-2 cells. Dose response non-linear regression analysis demonstrated that Senecio scandens showed the best recovery rate (98%), and that its EC50 was 19.54 ng/mL. Additional studies of these herbal medicines should be conducted to determine if they possess novel therapeutic agents for the prevention or treatment of liver disorders.