Protective Effect of Sasa Quelpaertensis and p-Coumaric Acid on Ethanol-induced Hepatotoxicity in Mice

Excessive alcohol use causes oxidative stress in the liver, and antioxidant therapy has been an attractive approach for the treatment of ethanol-induced liver damage. The present study examined the hepatoprotective effect of Sasa quelpaertensis Nakai (Korean name, Jeju-Joritdae) in C57BL/6 mice intoxicated with ethanol. Mice were intraperitoneally administered with ethanol alone, or together with test materials three times at 12-h intervals. At 3 h after the last dosing, hepatotoxicity was assessed based on serum activities of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase, and hepatic contents of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and glutathione. Sasa quelpaertensis extract mitigated the acute ethanol hepatotoxicity as effectively as silymarin. Its n-butanol fraction was more active than methylene chloride or aqueous fraction. p-Coumaric acid, a major constituent of S. quelpaertensis, was found to effectively prevent the ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity. These data suggest that S. quelpaertensis and p-coumaric acid could be useful for the prevention of liver disease caused by alcohol abuse.