Abstract

Liang Renjie*, Shi Shidi and Sun Changsen

The objective of the present study was to investigate potential of Glycyrrhiza glabra polysaccharides to offer protection against acute liver injury in rats. Rats were administered a single oral dose carbon tetrachloride (CCl4, 640 mg/kg b.w., 1:1 in groundnut oil) and sacrificed 7 days of post-treatment. Hepatic damage was assessed by employing biochemical parameters. Our results demonstrated that treatment of rats with G. glabra polysaccharides significantly prevented the increased activities of and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), ALP and LDH in serum. G. glabra polysaccharides treatment also restored CCl4-induced altered caspase-3, TGF- 1 and TGF- 1 mRNA. Our findings provide evidences to demonstrate that G. glabra polysaccharides treatment significantly offsets CCl4-induced liver injury in rats.