Effect of methanol extract of Zanthoxylum piperitum leaves and of its compound, protocatechuic acid, on hepatic drug metabolizing enzymes and lipid peroxidation in rats.

The effect of methanol extract and protocatechuic acid from the leaves of Zanthoxylum piperitum on lipid peroxidation and drug metabolizing enzymes were investigated in the liver of bromobenzene-treated rats. The methanol extract and protocatechuic acid reduced the level of lipid peroxide induced by bromobenzene. The methanol extract and protocatechuic acid reduced the activity of aniline hydroxylase that had been increased by bromobenzene, while did not affect the activities of aminopyrine N-demethylase and glutathione S-transferase. The methanol extract and compound effectively restored the activity of epoxide hydrolase which had been decreased by bromobenzene. These results may suggest that the methanol extract of Z. piperitum and protocatechuic acid prevented lipid peroxidation by reducing the activity of aniline hydroxylase, an epoxide-producing enzyme, and by enhancing the activity of epoxide hydrolase, an epoxide-removing enzyme, in rats that had been intoxicated with bromobenzene.