Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the preventive effects of alkaloids extracted from Ba lotus seeds (AEBLS) on CCl4-induced hepatic injury in mice. AEBLS was purified using 732 exchange resin and then orally administered to mice. Afterwards, the mice were injected with CCl4 to induce hepatic injury, and liver index, serum biochemical parameters, and the mRNA expression of related genes in hepatic tissue were evaluated. The results showed that AEBLS could reduce liver weight and liver index in mice with hepatic injury. AEBLS could decrease aspartate aminotransferase (AST), aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), urea nitrogen (BUN), nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and increase albumin (ALB), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) levels of the serum of mice with hepatic injury. Meanwhile, it could also increase serum levels of cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL?6), IL?12, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ). RT-PCR results also confirmed that AEBLS could upregulate Mn-SOD, Cu/Zn-SOD, CAT, GSH-Px and IκB-α mRNA expression and downregulate NF-κB-p65, iNOS, COX-2, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 mRNA expression in the liver tissue of mice with hepatic injury. Therefore, AEBLS has a good preventive effect on CCl4-induced hepatic injury, which is close to that of silymarin.

Key words: Ba lotus seed, alkaloid, mRNA expression, liver index, glutathione peroxidase