Abstract
Dihydroisotanshinone I is a phenanthrenequinone derivative isolated from the roots of Salvia trijuga Diels. The present study demonstrated the hepatoprotective effect of dihydroisotanshinone I against menadione-induced cytotoxicity in a primary culture of rat hepatocytes. Pretreating the cells with dihydroisotanshinone I at concentrations ranging from 2.5 μM to 20 μM for 24 hours caused dose-dependent protection against hepatotoxicity induced by menadione. Intracellular glutathione level and activity of DT-diaphorase have been suggested to play important roles in menadione-induced cytotoxicity. However, treating the hepatocytes with 20 μM dihydroisotanshinone I for 24 hours did not cause a significant change in glutathione level and DT-diaphorase activity. On the contrary, adding dihydroisotanshinone I to freshly isolated hepatocytes at concentrations between 50 nM to 200 nM inhibited NADH-induced superoxide production dose-dependently as indicated by the decrease of lucigenin-amplified chemiluminescence. In addition, dihydroisotanshinone I at concentrations ranging from 5 μM to 20 μM inhibited tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced lipid peroxidation dose-dependently in isolated hepatocytes as indicated by the level of malondialdehyde. These results suggest that the protective action of dihydroisotanshinone I against menadione-induced hepatotoxicity is attributed to its antioxidant properties including the free radical scavenging activity and inhibition of lipid peroxidation.
Abbreviations
DTD:DT-diaphorase
GSH:glutathione
LDH:lactate dehydrogenase
MDA:malondialdehyde
MTT:3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide
TBHP:tert-butyl hydroperoxide
Key words
Salvia trijuga
- Lamiaceae - dihydroisotanshinone I - menadione liver damage - free radical scavenger - lipid peroxidation
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Prof. Chun-Tao Che
School of Chinese Medicine
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shatin
Hong Kong
Email: chect@cuhk.edu.hk
Fax: +852-2603-7203
