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Hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects of Glycyrrhiza glabra extract against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatocyte damage in common carp (Cyprinus carpio)

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Abstract

The present study is aiming at evaluating the hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects of Glycyrrhiza glabra extract (2.5, 5 and 10 μg/ml) on the carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced carp hepatocyte damage in vitro. Glycyrrhiza glabra extract was added to the carp primary hepatocytes before (pre-treatment), after (post-treatment) and both before and after (pre- and post-treatment) the incubation of the hepatocytes with CCl4. CCl4 at 8 mM in the culture medium produced significantly elevated levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutamate oxalate transaminase (GOT), glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) and significantly reduced levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). Pre-treatment (5 μg/ml) and pre- and post-treatment (5 and 10 μg/ml) of the hepatocytes with Glycyrrhiza glabra extract significantly reduced the elevated levels of LDH, GOT, GPT and MDA and increased the reduced levels of SOD and GSH-Px by CCl4; post-treatment of the hepatocytes with Glycyrrhiza glabra extract at 5 μg/ml reduced the GPT and GOT levels and increased the GSH-Px level, but had no effect on the other parameters at all the studied concentrations. The results support the use of Glycyrrhiza glabra extract as a hepatoprotective and antioxidant agent in fish.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (2009DFA32620) and co-funded by Department of science and technology of Jiangsu (BZ2008008), Wuxi Municipal Bureau on Science and Technology (CZE00906) and Central Public-interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund (6-115009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wuxi Fisheries College, Nanjing Agricultural University, Wuxi, 214081, China

    Guojun Yin & Chengping Lu

  2. Key Open Laboratory for Genetic Breeding of Aquatic Animals and Aquaculture Biology, Ministry of Agriculture, Freshwater Fisheries Research Center of Chinese Academy of Fishery Science, No.9 East Shanshui Rd, Wuxi, 214081, China

    Guojun Yin, Liping Cao & Pao Xu

  3. Research Institute for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Irrigation, Anna light 8, 4440, Szarvas, Hungary

    Galina Jeney

  4. Laboratory of Marine Biochemistry, Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Fukuoka, 812-8581, Japan

    Miki Nakao

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  1. Guojun Yin
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Correspondence to Guojun Yin, Miki Nakao or Chengping Lu.

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Yin, G., Cao, L., Xu, P. et al. Hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects of Glycyrrhiza glabra extract against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced hepatocyte damage in common carp (Cyprinus carpio). Fish Physiol Biochem 37, 209–216 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-010-9436-1

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