• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.353-360
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• 2001

Objectives: Recently, it was known that the major cause of hepatitis is apoptosis reaction mediated by Fas-FasL. Since Artemisia Capillaris Fructus has long been applied to cure the jaundice in oriental medicine. Therefore, this study was carried out to examine the effect of fractions of Artemisia Capillaris Fructus on Fas-FasL-mediated apoptosis in hepatocytes. Methods: This study employed propidium iodide negative cell count assay and some the other biochemical assays. Results : This study confirms that hepatitis has been occured by apoptosis mediated by Fas-FasL in cultured hepatocyte and fractions of Artemisia Capillaris Fructus restrain apoptosis induced Fas-FasL. Conclusions : Water-extracted fraction, methanol extracts, ether-soluble fraction, and buthanol-soluble fractions of Artemisia Capillaris Fructus restrain Fas-FasL-mediated apoptosis in hepatocyte. Silica gel chromatograph of Buthanol-soluble fraction of Artemisia Capillaris Fructus restrain Fas-FasL-mediated apoptosis in hepatocyte. Artemisia Capillaris Fructus could be applied to cure hepatitis.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.53-61
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• 2000

Objectives: This study was camed out to examine the effect of five fractions of aqueous extract from Artemisia capillaris THUNB(ACT), on TGF, 1-induced apoptosis, cell viability, cell cycle progression and mRNA expression of apoptosis-related genes in human hepatocyte cell line HepG2. Methods: This study employed Tryphan blue exclusion assay, DNA fragmentation assay, Cpp32 protease activity assay and Quantitative RT-PCR analysis. Results: In the Tryphan blue exclusion assay, the butanol fraction of ACT with $TGF{\beta}$, l showed magnificent (Nice word, ut is it appropriate in a medical abstract\ulcorner) viability and the H2O fraction of ACT with $TGF{\beta}$, l also showed higher viability than only $TGF{\beta}$, l-treated group. DNA fragmentation assay showed that the butanol fraction and the H2O fraction carried inhibitory effects on apoptosis induction, with the butanol fraction displaying greater effects. The Cpp32 protease activity assay showed that the butanol fraction decreased Cpp32 protease activity. The H2O fraction of ACT had no significant effect on the Cpp32 protease activity. Quantitative RT-PCR showed that the butanol fraction suppressed Bax, p 15/INK4B, p21/Waf1, PAI-1 and increased Bcl-2 gene. Conclusions: The data shows that butanol fraction of ACT increases the hepatocyte viability and has the hepatocellular protective effect by the suppression of $TGF{\beta}$, l induced-apoptosis through gene regulation.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.67-72
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• 2003

Cholestatic liver injury results from the accumulation of toxic bile salts within the liver. The aim of the present study is to elucidate the changes in expression and cellular localization of apoptosis related proteins in the liver of bile duct-ligated (BDL) rat. Extrahepatic cholestasis was induced by double ligation of the common bile duct and cut between the ligatures. Animals were sacrificed at day 3 and at week 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 after BDL. The number of TUNEL positive cells was increased significantly after 3 days of BDL, decreased over 2 weeks and remained constant thereafter. Fas expression was not changed and activation of caspase 8 did not occur. Fas immunoreactivity was exclusively observed in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes, indicating that Fas expressed in rat hepatocytes is a soluble form. Hepatocyte apoptosis was associated with Bax expression, which showed a peak at day 3 and decreased over time gradually. Immnunostaining of Bax was observed in hepatocytes and bile duct epithelial cells (BEC) of control and BDL rats. Bcl-2 was increased over time in BDL rats. These results suggest that apoptosis of hepatocytes in BDL rats is independent of Fas and controlled by Bax expression.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2019

Swertiamarin (STM) is an iridoid compound that is present in the Gentianaceae swertia genus. Here we investigated antiapoptotic effects of STM on carbon tetrachloride ($CCl_4$)-induced liver injury and its possible mechanisms. Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into a control group, an STM 200 mg/kg group, a $CCl_4$ group, a $CCl_4+STM$ 100 mg/kg group, and a $CCl_4+STM$ 200 mg/kg group. Rats in experimental groups were subcutaneously injected with 40% $CCl_4$ twice weekly for 8 weeks. STM (100 and 200 mg/kg per day) was orally given to experimental rats by gavage for 8 consecutive weeks. Hepatocyte apoptosis was determined by TUNEL assay and the expression levels of Bcl-2, Bax, and cleaved caspase-3 proteins were evaluated by western blot analysis. The expression of $TGF-{\beta}1$, collagen I, collagen III, CTGF and fibronectin mRNA were estimated by qRT-PCR. The results showed that STM significantly reduced the number of TUNEL-positive cells compared with the $CCl_4$ group. The levels of Bax and cleaved caspase-3 proteins, and $TGF-{\beta}1$, collagen I, collagen III, CTGF, and fibronectin mRNA were significantly reduced by STM compared with the $CCl_4$ group. In addition, STM markedly abrogated the repression of Bcl-2 by $CCl_4$. STM also attenuated the activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway in the liver. These results suggested that STM ameliorated $CCl_4$-induced hepatocyte apoptosis in rats.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.3 no.6
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• pp.565-570
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• 1999

Intracellular accumulation of bile acids in the hepatocytes during cholestasis is thought to be pathogenic in cholestatic liver injury. Due to the detergent-like effect of the hydrophobic bile acids, hepatocellular injury has been attributed to direct membrane damage. However histological findings of cholestatic liver diseases suggest apoptosis can be a mechanism of cell death during cholestatic liver diseases instead of necrosis. To determine the pattern of hepatocellular toxicity induced by bile acid, we incubated primary cultured rat hepatocytes with a hydrophobic bile acid, Glycochenodeoxycholate (GCDC), up to 5 hours. After 5 hours incubation with $400\;{\mu}M$ GCDC, lactate dehydrogenase released significantly. Cell viability, quantitated in propidium iodide stained cells concomitant with fluoresceindiacetate was decreased time- and dose-dependently. Most nuclei with condensed chromatin and shrunk cytoplasm were heavily labelled time- and dose-dependently by a positive TUNEL reaction. These findings suggest that both apoptosis and necrosis are involved in hepatocytes injury caused by GCDC.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.121-127
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• 2000

Intracellular accumulation of bile acids in the hepatocytes during cholestasis is thought to be pathogenic in cholestatic liver diseases. The objective of this study was to determine the role of lipid peroxidation and glutathione on the bile acid-induced hepatic cell death mechanism in primary cultured rat hepatocytes. To induce hepatic cell death, we incubated primary cultured rat hepatocytes with glycochenodeoxycholic acid $(GCDC;\;0{\sim}400\;{\mu}M)$ for 3 hours. In electron microscopic examination and agarose gel electrophoresis, low concentration of GCDC treatment mainly induced apoptotic feature. Whereas $400\;{\mu}M$ GCDC treated cells demonstrated both apoptosis and necrosis. Lipid peroxidation was increased dose-dependently in GCDC treated hepatocyte. And this was also accompanied by decreased glutathione. Therefore, oxygen free radical damage may play a partial role in GCDC-induced hepatic cell death.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.462-467
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• 2009

Exposure of formaldehyde (FA), one of the major compounds in pesticides and in the onset of sick house syndrome, has been implicated in the development of diverse diseases. Liver is a very important organ to body metabolism and drug detoxification. Apotosis of hepatocytes is associated with the onset of liver diseases such as hepatitis. However, the apoptotic effect of FA in hepatocytes is not clear. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of FA on the apoptosis in HepG2 cells, a human hepatocyte cell line. As a result, FA (> $500\;{\mu}M$) decreased cell viability and increased lactate dehydrogenase activity in HepG2 cells, which was blocked by the treatment of vitamin E and N-acetylcysteine (NAC). In addition, FA decreased glutathione (GSH) contents and Bcl-2 levels, while increasing lipid peroxide formation and Bax levels. It also cleaved caspase-3 form, which was blocked by the treatment of vitamin E and NAC. It is insisted that FA induced apoptosis via oxidative stress in human hepatocytes.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.311-320
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• 2007

The present study was designed to estimate the protective effect of (-) epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on ethanol-induced liver injury in rats. Chronic ethanol administration (6 g/kg/day ${\times}$ 60 days) caused liver damage that was manifested by the elevation of markers of liver dysfunction - aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, bilirubin and ${\gamma}$-glutamyl transferase in plasma and reduction in liver glycogen. The activities of alcohol metabolizing enzymes such as alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase were found to be altered in alcohol-treated group. Ethanol administration resulted in the induction of cytochrome p450 and cytochrome-$b_{5}$ activities and reduction of cytochrome-c reductase and glutathione-S-transferase, a phase II drug metabolizing enzyme. Further, ethanol reduced the viability of isolated hepatocytes (ex vivo) as assessed by trypan blue exclusion test and induced hepatocyte apoptosis as assessed by propidium iodide staining. Treatment of alcoholic rats with EGCG restored the levels of markers of liver injury and mitigated the alterations in alcohol metabolizing and drug metabolizing enzymes and cyt-c-reductase. Increased hepatocyte viability and reduced apoptotic nuclei were observed in alcohol + EGCG-treated rats. These findings suggest that EGCG acts as a hepatoprotective agent against alcoholic liver injury.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.337-372
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• 1998

To evaluate the effects of Injinchunggantang-derivative on cell viability, cell cycle progression, and apoptosis, MTT assay, cell cycle analysis, Cpp32 protease assay, DNA fragnemtation assay, quantitative RT-PCR, and Western blotting were performed. The results were as followes. In MTT assay, etoposide+Injinchunggantang-derivative-treated cells as well as Injinchunggantang-derivative-treated cells showed higher viability than etoposide-treated cells with no time-concentration-dependence, which implied that Injinchunggantang-derivative has hepato-protective effect Cell cycle analysis showed that Injinchunggantang-derivative has no significant effect on the cell cycle. Cpp32 protease assav and DNA fragmentation assay Injinchunggantang-derivative carry inhibitory effects on apoptosis induction. It was suggested that Injinchunggantang-delivative might regulate the cell cycle, in particular $G_1$ checkpoint by blocking p53 and Watl pathway. Injinchunggantang-derivative inhibited the mRNA expressions of Cpp32, Fas, and Bcl-2, which could result in inhibition of apoptosis. These results imply that Injinchunggantang-derivative increases hepatocyte viability, and protects hepatocyte from damage by regulating the expression of genes associated with cell cycle and apoptosis, which explains the mechanism of the clinical effect of Injinchunggantang-derivative on liver diseases.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.73-78
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• 2020

Cancer incidence has been increasing steadily and is the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Gastric cancer is still most common malignancy in Korea. Cancer initiation and progression are multistep processes involving various growth factors and their ligands. Among these growth factors, we have studied hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), which is associated with cell proliferation and invasion, leading to cancer and metastasis, especially in gastric cancer. We explored the intercellular communication between HGF and other surface membrane receptors in gastric cancer cell lines. Using complimentary deoxyribonucleic acid microarray technology, we found new genes associated with HGF in the stomach cancer cell lines, NUGC-3 and MKN-28, and identified their function within the HGF pathway. The HGF/N-methyl-N'-nitroso-guanidine human osteosarcoma transforming gene (c-MET) axis interacts with several molecules including E-cadherin, urokinase plasminogen activator, KiSS-1, Jun B, and lipocalin-2. This pathway may affect cell invasion and metastasis or cell apoptosis and is therefore associated with tumorigenesis and metastasis in gastric cancer.