Protective effect of pilose antler peptide on carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in mice

The present study was designed to investigate the beneficial effects of pilose antler peptide (PAP) against carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) hepatotoxicity in mice, and explore the underlying mechanisms. In our results, animals were treated with either CCl₄ and/or PAP for six consecutive weeks. The levels of inflammatory cytokines in serum and liver, hepatotoxicity markers in serum and histopathological evaluation were determined. PAP (50, 100mg/kg) significantly inhibited the CCl₄-incuded overproduction of inflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), cytokines interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in serum and liver. Animals treated with PAP exhibited lower levels of alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST), PAP administration alleviated CCl₄ induced hepatic fibrosis as manifested in histopathological records. In fact, PAP prevented the activation of TLR/NF-κB pathway, by inhibiting the expression of TLR2, TLR4 MyD88, p-NF-κBp65 and p-IκBα. In addition, PAP also significantly reversed CCl4-induced alteration of TGF-β and p-samd-3 in liver tissue. In conclusion, PAP restored CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity via TLR/NF-κB and TGF-β/samd-3 pathways.