Abstract:

The hepatoprotective effect of Ganoderma lucidum peptides (GLP) against alcohol-induced liver injury in mice was investigated. Totally 60 mice were randomly divided into 6 groups of 10 mice each: normal group, alcohol model group, tioronin positive control group and GLP treatment groups. The mice in GLP groups were daily administered GLP via gavage tubes at doses of 60, 120 mg/kg bw and 180 mg/kg bw, respectively. Positive control group was administered tioronin at the dose of 50 mg/kg bw and other groups were administered saline at the identical volume. At 3 h postadministration, mice in all other groups except normal group were induced with 50% alcohol at 16 mL/ kg bw administration level to create a liver injury model, while mice in normal group were administered normal saline at the same volume. The indexes of liver and spleen were calculated. The alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and triglyceride (TG) level in serum, as well as malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels, and superoxidedismutase (SOD) activity in liver were measured. GLP treatment at the dose of 60 mg/kg bw significantly reduced the elevation of AST, ALT, MDA and TG (P < 0.01), and significantly inhibited the decrease of SOD activity and GSH levels (P＜0.05－0.01) in mice suffering from liver injury. In conclusion, GLP treatment at the dose of 60 mg/kg bw has a significant hepatoprotective effect against alcohol-induced liver injury in mice and a better hepatoprotective effect of GLP treatment at the dose of 180 mg/kg bw was achieved compared to tioronin treatment at the dose of 50 mg/kg bw.

Key words: Ganoderma lucidum peptides (GLP), alcohol, liver injury, hepatoprotective effect