Abstract:

Objective: To study the hepatoprotective effect of polysaccharides from Morus nigra Linn. fruits (MNP) on
CCl4-induced liver damage in rats. Methods: Totally 40 healthy SD rats were randomized into 5 groups with 8 animals in
each group: normal group, CCl4-injury group, and three different treatment groups with different doses of MNP (50, 100,
200 mg/(kg·d)). After 7 days of intragastric administration, all rats except for the normal group were subjected
to intraperitoneal injection of CCl4. After 24 hours, rat serum was collected for analyzing the activity of alanine
aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and the content of bilirubin. Liver tissues were harvested
for measuring the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathion peroxidase (GSH-Px), and the
contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-10 (IL-10).
Results: Compared with the CCl4-injury group, the treatment groups with 100 and 200 mg/(kg·d) of MNP revealed a
significant decrease in body weight (P < 0.05), liver index (P < 0.05), kidney index (P < 0.05) and spleen index (P < 0.01);
serum ALT and AST activities (P < 0.05) and bilirubin content (P < 0.05); and the contents of MDA, IFN-γ and TNF-α
(P < 0.05) in liver, while the activities of liver SOD, CAT, and GSH-Px and IL-10 contentwere significantly increased (P < 0.05).
The administration with 50 mg/(kg·d) of MNP could result in a significant decrease in liver, kidney and spleen indexes (P < 0.05),
GSH-Px activity (P < 0.05), IL-10 content (P < 0.05) in liver, and TNF-α content (P < 0.05) in liver. Conclusion: Polysaccharides
from Morus nigra Linn. fruits can attenuate CCl4-injduced liver injury in rats, and the underlying mechanism may be due to its
antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

Key words: Morus nigra Linn. polysaccharide, hepatoprotective effect, antioxidant activity, carbon tetrachloride