Dihydromyricetin attenuates LPS-induced liver injury in chicks through the JNK signaling pathway

Recently, the incidence of liver injury in livestock and poultry caused by bacterial infections has been on the rise. As a major pathogenic factor determining Gram-negative bacterial infections, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) frequently contributes to reduced performance and even mortality in poultry, thus inflicting substantial economic losses in the livestock industry. It is imperative to develop safe and efficient protective drugs to mitigate liver damage and decrease susceptibility to chronic diseases in farm animals. Dihydromyricetin (DHM), a natural flavonoid compound extracted from the Ampelopsis grossedentata, possesses multiple pharmacological activities. Research has indicated that DHM exhibited protective and curative effect on tissue injury. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms underlying its attenuation of liver injury remain unclear. In this experiment, an LPS-induced liver injury model was established in chicks, which were then treated with various doses of DHM. The results showed that DHM improved the degree of hepatocyte pathology, decreased the activities of alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in serum, and inhibited the expression of c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) pathway upstream-related proteins (ASK1, MKK4, and MKK7), JNK, and its downstream-related protein (c-Jun) along with their phosphorylation levels (p-ASK1, p-MKK4, p-MKK7, p-JNK, and p-c-Jun). Additionally, DHM promoted the expression of anti-apoptotic protein (Bcl-2), repressed the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins (BAX and caspase-3), and subsequently reduced hepatocyte apoptosis. Overall, DHM inhibited the activation of JNK pathway to reduce hepatocyte apoptosis, thereby alleviating liver injury. This work provides a theoretical basis for the development and utilization of DHM.