Preventive effect of a galactoglucomannan (GGM) from Dendrobium huoshanense on selenium-induced liver injury and fibrosis in rats.

This study was carried out to investigate the preventive effects of galactoglucomannan (GGM), a homogeneous polysaccharide from Dendrobium huoshanense, on liver injury and fibrosis induced by sodium selenite. Sprague-Dawley rats injected subcutaneously with sodium selenite at the dosage of 3.28 mgkg(-1) b.wt. were set as the model groups. Rats treated with sodium selenite at the dosage of 3.28 mgkg(-1) b.wt. and GGM at 50-200 mgkg(-1) b.wt. were set as the prevention groups. Biochemical and histological analysis showed that GGM significantly ameliorated selenite-induced liver injury and fibrosis in rats. Oral administration of GGM effectively attenuated the toxicity of selenite to liver tissue, which was judged both by the decreased activities of serum hepatic enzymes, including alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and by liver histopathological examination. Meanwhile, GGM also reduced the levels of H(2)O(2) and malondialdehyde (MDA), elevated the levels of GSH, restored the fluidity of hepatic plasma membrane, and retained the activities of endogenous enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione S-transferase (GST). The prevention of selenite-induced liver injury and fibrosis by GGM was further supported by the reduced expression of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and type I collagen. These results suggested that GGM may be developed into a novel antifibrotic agent for the prevention of liver injury and fibrosis.

[1]  Jianguo Lin,et al.  Curcumin Protects the Rat Liver from CCl4-Caused Injury and Fibrogenesis by Attenuating Oxidative Stress and Suppressing Inflammation , 2008, Molecular Pharmacology.

[2]  C. Cabrera–Vique,et al.  Selenium in food and the human body: a review. , 2008, The Science of the total environment.

[3]  G. Sudhandiran,et al.  Curcumin protects against hepatic and renal injuries mediated by inducible nitric oxide synthase during selenium‐induced toxicity in Wistar rats , 2009, Microscopy research and technique.

[4]  V. Palace,et al.  Methioninase and selenomethionine but not Se-methylselenocysteine generate methylselenol and superoxide in an in vitro chemiluminescent assay: implications for the nutritional carcinostatic activity of selenoamino acids. , 2004, Biochemical pharmacology.

[5]  H. Ganther.  Selenotrisulfides. Formation by the reaction of thiols with selenious acid. , 1968, Biochemistry.

[6]  J. Spallholz.  On the nature of selenium toxicity and carcinostatic activity. , 1994, Free radical biology & medicine.

[7]  S. Hossain,et al.  Effect of aging on plasma membrane fluidity of rat aortic endothelial cells☆ , 1999, Experimental Gerontology.

[8]  D. Sohn,et al.  Antifibrotic effects of a polysaccharide extracted from Ganoderma lucidum, glycyrrhizin, and pentoxifylline in rats with cirrhosis induced by biliary obstruction. , 1997, Biological & pharmaceutical bulletin.

[9]  K. Neldner,et al.  Selenium compounds have disparate abilities to impose oxidative stress and induce apoptosis. , 1999, Free radical biology & medicine.

[10]  T. Xu,et al.  Elemental selenium at nano size (Nano-Se) as a potential chemopreventive agent with reduced risk of selenium toxicity: comparison with se-methylselenocysteine in mice. , 2008, Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology.

[11]  E. Novo,et al.  Liver fibrosis: a dynamic and potentially reversible process. , 2010, Histology and histopathology.

[12]  A. I. Galán,et al.  S-Adenosylmethionine protects against cyclosporin A-induced alterations in rat liver plasma membrane fluidity and functions. , 1999, The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.

[13]  H. Ganther.  Reduction of the selenotrisulfide derivative of glutathione to a persulfide analog by glutathione reductase. , 1971, Biochemistry.

[14]  O. H. Lowry,et al.  Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. , 1951, The Journal of biological chemistry.

[15]  Hanqing Yu,et al.  Elemental selenium at nano size possesses lower toxicity without compromising the fundamental effect on selenoenzymes: comparison with selenomethionine in mice. , 2007, Free radical biology & medicine.

[16]  Lei Dong,et al.  Chlorogenic acid against carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in rats. , 2009, European journal of pharmacology.

[17]  L. Huc,et al.  Role for Membrane Fluidity in Ethanol-Induced Oxidative Stress of Primary Rat Hepatocytes , 2005, Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

[18]  H. Umakoshi,et al.  Calcein permeation across phosphatidylcholine bilayer membrane: effects of membrane fluidity, liposome size, and immobilization. , 2009, Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces.

[19]  Jae Ho Park,et al.  Alleviation of dimethylnitrosamine-induced liver injury and fibrosis by betaine supplementation in rats. , 2009, Chemico-biological interactions.

[20]  Yu-zhu Yin,et al.  Liver synthetic function in predicting the prognosis of pregnancy complicating fulminant hepatitis. , 2007, Chinese medical journal.

[21]  Jian-ping Luo,et al.  Mechanism of Polysaccharides from Dendrobium huoshanense. on Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Cataract , 2008 .

[22]  F. Marra,et al.  Silybin, a component of sylimarin, exerts anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrogenic effects on human hepatic stellate cells. , 2009, Journal of hepatology.

[23]  Shaotong Jiang,et al.  Structure identification of a new immunostimulating polysaccharide from the stems of Dendrobium huoshanense , 2007 .

[24]  M. Rayman,et al.  Food-chain selenium and human health: spotlight on speciation , 2008, British Journal of Nutrition.

[25]  J. L. Kice,et al.  Mechanism of the reaction of thiols with selenite , 1980 .

[26]  M. M. Bradford.  A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. , 1976, Analytical biochemistry.

[27]  Jianping Zhang,et al.  Severe liver disease in pregnancy , 2008, International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics.

[28]  Lide Zhang,et al.  Comparison of short-term toxicity between Nano-Se and selenite in mice. , 2005, Life sciences.