[Protective effect of astaxanthin on acute liver injury induced by α-amanitin in mice]

Objective: To explore the protective effect of astaxanthin on acute liver injury induced by α-amanitin in mice. Methods: In June 2023, 42 healthy SPF male Kunming mice were selected. The mice were divided into blank control group, model (0.45 mg/kg α-amanitin) group, olive oil (10 ml/kg olive oil) group, low dose (20 mg/kg) astaxanthin group, medium dose (40 mg/kg) astaxanthin group, high dose (80 mg/kg) astaxanthin group and silybin (20 mg/kg) group by random number table method. Each group had 6 animals. Mice in the blank control group were intraperitoneally injected with 10 ml/kg normal saline, and mice in the other group were injected with α-amanitin. After that, the blank control group and model group were infused with 10 ml/kg normal saline, olive oil group and astaxanthin groups were given olive oil and astaxanthin according to dose by gavage, and silybin group was injected with silybin by dose. The drug was administered once every 12 h for a total of 4 doses. After 60 h, the mice were killed, the liver weight was weighed, and the liver index was calculated. The contents of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in serum of mice were detected, and the contents of superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver tissues were also detected. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the difference of indexes among each group, and pairwise comparison was performed by Dunnett-t test. Results: The mice in the blank control group had smooth hair color, good spirit and normal behavior, while the mice in the other groups showed varying degrees of retardation and decreased diet, and no death occurred in each group. Body mass[ (26.67±1.51) g] and liver mass[ (1.23±0.14) g] in model group were significantly lower than those in blank control group [ (33.50±2.43) g and (1.87±0.16) g], and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The liver index [ (5.39±0.32) %, (5.83±0.30) %, (5.75±0.24) % and (5.78±0.16) %] in low, medium and high dose astaxanthin groups and silybin group were significantly higher than those in model group [ (4.61±0.12) %], and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Serum ALT and AST contents in model group [ (153.04±13.96) U/L and (59.08±4.03) U/L] were significantly higher than those in blank control group [ (13.77±1.29) U/L and (10.21±0.35) U/L], and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The contents of CAT, GSH and SOD in liver tissues of model group [ (9.40±2.23) U/mgprot, (3.09±0.26) μmol/gprot and (48.94±3.13) U/mgprot] were significantly lower than those of blank control group [ (26.36±2.92) U/mgprot, (6.76±0.71) μmol/gprot and (89.89±4.17) U/mgprot], the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). MDA content[ (6.33±0.24) nmol/mgprot] in liver tissue of model group was significantly higher than that of blank control group [ (0.91±0.21) nmol/mgprot], and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The CAT contents[ (18.64±1.76) U/mgprot, (18.20±1.76) U/mgprot, and (15.54±1.36) U/mgprot] in liver tissues of low, medium and high dose astaxanthin groups were significantly higher than those of model group, with statistical significances (P<0.05). Compared with model group, SOD contents[ (72.16±7.44) U/mgprot, (93.18±5.28) U/mgprot, (103.78±7.07) U/mgprot, and (96.60±7.02) U/mgprot] in liver tissues of mice in low, medium and high dose astaxanthin groups and silybin group were significantly increased (P<0.05), MDA contents [ (4.30±0.84) U/mgprot, (3.66±0.28) U/mgprot, (2.96±0.29) U/mgprot, and (2.88±0.39) U/mgprot] were significantly decreased (P<0.05). Compared with model group, GSH content [ (7.90±1.25) μmol/gprot] in high dose astaxanthin group was significantly increased (P<0.05) . Conclusion: Astaxanthin may alleviate acute liver injury induced by α-amanitin by alleviating oxidative stress in mice liver.