Glycoprotein isolated from Acanthopanax senticosus protects against hepatotoxicity induced by acute and chronic alcohol treatment.

The protective effect of a 30 kDa glycoprotein (GF-AS) isolated from the stem bark of Acanthopanax senticosus against acute and chronic alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity were studied. N-terminal amino acid sequence of GF-AS showed NH(2)-Val-Ala-Tyr-Pro-Trp-Ala-Gly-Phe-Ala-Leu-Ser-Leu-Glx-Pro-Pro-Ala-Gly-Tyr-. GF-AS significantly increases the activities of alcohol-metabolizing enzymes, including alcohol dehydrogenase, microsomal ethanol metabolizing system, and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase in rats acutely treated with alcohol, resulting in decreased plasma alcohol levels. GF-AS also increases the activities of antioxidant enzymes and glutathione level. Markers of liver injury induced by alcohol: elevated serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, triglyceride and cholesterol, are reduced by GF-AS in both acutely and chronically treated rats. The activities of lipogenic enzymes including malic enzyme, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, and 6-phosphoglucuronic acid dehydrogenase in chronic alcohol-treated rats are significantly decreased by GF-AS. Furthemore, GF-AS improves histological change in fatty liver and hepatic lesions induced by alcohol. Collectively, GF-AS may alleviate alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity through increasing ethanol and lipid metabolism, as well as antioxidant defense systems in livers injured by acute- and chronic-alcohol treatment.