Hepatoprotective effects of blue honeysuckle on CCl₄-induced acute liver damaged mice

The objective of this study was to evaluate the hepatoprotective effects of blue honeysuckle (BH) on carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)-induced acute hepatic damage in mice. The experiment used a total of 60 ICR mice, which were divided into six groups. Except for the intact control groups, all groups received a single intraperitoneal injection of CCl₄ after a 7 day pre-treatment period with distilled water, BH extracts, or silymarin. Twenty-four hours after the CCl₄ injection, the following observations, representative of classical oxidative stress-mediated centrolobular necrotic acute liver injuries, were observed: decreased body weight; small nodule formation and enlargement on the gross inspections with related liver weight increase; elevation of serum AST and ALT, increases in hepatic lipid peroxidation and related depletion of endogenous antioxidants and antioxidative enzymes; centrolobular necrosis; increases in apoptotic markers, lipid peroxidation markers, and oxidative stress markers. However, liver damage was significantly inhibited by the pre-treatment with BH extracts. The present study demonstrated that oral administration of BH extracts prior to exposure to CCl₄ conferred favorable hepatoprotective effects. These results demonstrated that BHe possessed suitable properties for use as a potent hepatoprotective medicinal food.