Mechanism investigation of dioscin against CCl4-induced acute liver damage in mice.

The mechanisms of the ameliorating effects of dioscin against CCl(4) induced acute liver damage are investigated in this study. Dioscin significantly inhibited (p<0.01) the increases of serum ALT and AST activities compared with the CCl(4)-treated animals. The hepatic lipid peroxidation formation and, concentrations of TNF-α and IL-6 were also decreased. Liver histopathologic studies and a DNA laddering assay indicated that dioscin protected hepatocytes against CCl(4)-induced apoptosis and necrosis. Furthermore, dioscin decreased the protein expressions of Fas/FasL, increased Bcl-2/Bax ratio, inhibited the release of cytochrome c from mitochondrion to cytosol and attenuated CCl(4)-induced caspase-3 and -8 activities. The expressions of ICAM-1, vimentin, prohibitin, HGF, c-MET and GSTA1 were also regulated by dioscin and iNOS was also involved in the effects of this agent. These protective effects against CCl(4) induced acute liver damage might be through inhibiting lipid peroxidation, inflammatory cytokines, necrosis and apoptosis, and dioscin shows promise for development toward the treatment of acute chemically mediated liver injury.