Abstract: Purpose: To explore the protective effect of green tea polyphenols on chronic alcoholic hepatic injury in mice. Methods: Liver injury was induced in mice by 56° Beijing Red Star Erguotou wine at gradually increasing dose. The mouse model with liver injury was intervened by green tea polyphenols for 10 weeks followed by determination of body weight and liver index. Meanwhile, the contents of glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD), xanthine oxidase (XOD) and Na+-K+-ATPase in the liver, and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels were also determined. Hepatic pathological changes were examined. Results: The model group displayed a significant reduction in body weight, hepatic GSH content and hepatic SOD, GSH-Px and Na+-K+-ATPase activities when compared with the control group (P ＜ 0.05), while a significant increase in liver index, hepatic MDA content, hepatic XOD activity and serum ALT and AST activities was observed for the model group (P ＜ 0.05), and the fat degeneration in liver and pathological inflammation revealed an obvious change. Compared with the model group, green tea polyphenol-treated rats indicated a decrease in liver index (P ＜ 0.05), an increase in hepatic SOD and GSH-Px activities, the high- and medium-dose groups revealed higher body weight and hepatic Na+-K+-ATPase activity and lower serum ALT and AST activities and hepatic XOD activity (P ＜ 0.05), a significant decrease in hepatic MDA content and an increase in hepatic GSH content were observed for the high-dose group. Furthermore, hepatic pathological changes were attenuated or even reversed. Conclusion: Green tea polyphenols can protect liver from chronic alcoholic damage to some extent, and the mechanism may be related to its antioxidant effect.

Key words: green tea polyphenols, alcoholic hepatic injury, antioxidation