Protective effects of Sasa veitchii extract on acute ethanol‐induced hepatotoxicity in mice

Aim: High alcohol consumption leads to alcohol-related disease. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of Sasa veitchii extract (SE) on ethanol-induced liver injury. Methods: Of four groups of 7-week-old male mice (control, SE, ethanol, and SE + ethanol groups), SE and SE + ethanol groups were orally treated with SE once a day for 3 days. Twenty-four hours after the last administration, the SE + ethanol and ethanol groups were intraperitoneally injected with ethanol (2 g/kg). The mice in each group were euthanized 24h after ethanol administration, and blood and livers were collected. Results: Histopathological examination of the livers of ethanol-treated mice revealed a depletion of glycogen. Ethanol injection resulted in high plasma levels of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase and high levels of hepatic lipid peroxidation and inflammatory cytokines. Pretreatment with SE reversed all these changes in SE + ethanol mice compared to that in the ethanol group. Moreover, SE injection increased the hepatic protein levels of aldehyde dehydrogenase 2. Conclusion: Our results show that SE protected the mice against acute ethanol-induced hepatic injury by modulating oxidative stress and ethanol metabolism, and hence, could be explored for treatment of alcohol-related disease.