Study On Prevention Of Selenite-induced Liver Injury And Fibrosis By Polysaccharides From Dendrobium Huoshanense

Dendrobium huoshanense C.Z. Tang et S.J. Cheng is a famous herb for its value of eye, liver and stomach protection and has been used in the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for centuries. Polysaccharides from D. huoshanense have been proved to possess the function of antioxidation, tumor cell growth inhibition, immunological activity enhancement and anticataract. Researches have been shown that the effects of polysaccharides are attributed to their potential of effectively scavenging free oxygen radicals. Because chronic liver disease development has been suggested to be related to oxidative damage, this paper aims to investigate the preventive effects of polysaccharides from D. huoshanense (DHP-I) on selenite-induced liver-injury and fibrosis development for providing the basis for the medicinal value development of D. huoshanense. At present, the protection of sodium selenite-induced liver injury and fibrosis by DHP-I has not been reported.Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats with the subcutaneous injection of sodium selenite were set as the animal model of liver injury and fibrosis. Rats treated with sodium selenite and polysaccharides were used as the prevention groups. Selenite caused severe liver injury with the increased activities of ALT, AST, LDH and GST as well as the elevated levels of H2O2 and MDA. Meanwhile, selenite reduced the fluidity of plasma membrane, the level of GSH, and the activities of SOD and CAT. DHP-I could effectively attenuate the toxicity of selenite. There were no notable differences observed in the above biochemical markers between the prevention group and the normal group. The analysis of histological observation showed that the hepatocyte injury occurred at the early stage of selenite treatment and the liver fibrosis was developed in the end, but DHP-Ⅰcould ameliorate the degree of hepatocyte injury and prevent the progression of liver fibrosis. These phenomena were supported by immunofluorescence staining of TGF-β1 and collagens.In conclusion, it was for the first time confirmed that DHP has the protective effects on selenite-induced liver injury and fibrosis, suggesting that DHP might be developed into a novel antioxidant or functional food for prevention of the liver diseases.