Protective effects of total flavonoids of lotus leaf ( Nelumbo nuciferea Gaertn.) on alcohol-induced liver injury in mice

The present study aimed at evaluating the hepatoprotective effects of total flavonoids of lotus leaf ( Nelumbo nuciferea Gaertn..) ( TFL) on the injury induced by alcohol in mice.Seventy- two male Kunming mice were randomly divided into control group, model group, Yiganling group and TFL group ( 100, 300, 500mg /kg) , 12 in each group.Mice were administered orally with 50% alcohol 12mL /kg at 4h after the doses of TFL everyday for fourteen consecutive days except mice in normal group.The protective effect was evaluated by biochemical parameters including serum aspartate transaminase ( AST) , alanine transferase ( ALT) , triglyceride ( TG) and reduced glutathione ( GSH) , malondialdehyde ( MDA) , superoxide dismutase ( SOD) and glutathione peroxidase ( GSH- Px) in liver tissue.The protective effects on alcohol- induced liver injury of TFL were confirmed by hematoxylin- eosin staining and liver homogenate TNF- α, IL- 1βcontents in liver by ELISA analysis.The results showed: Compared with model group, TFL could significantly reduce serum ALT, AST, TG levels of alcoholic-induced liver injury in mice, lower MDA content in liver homogenates, and inhibit the decrease of SOD, GSH- Px, GSH levels in a dose- dependent manner, and inhibit the expression of TNF- α and IL- 1β in liver tissue, and alleviate liver tissue pathological damage.This study showed that total flavonoids of lotus leaf ( TFL) had remarkable protective effect on alcohol- induced hepatic injury in mice, possibly due to its capability of scavenging reactive oxygen species, inhibiting lipid peroxidation and expression of TNF-α and IL-1βcytokines.