Background and Objective :
A Tibetan traditional herb named Swertia mussotii Franch., also called “Zangyinchen” by the local people of Qinghai-Tibet area, has been used to protect the liver from injury for many years. However, the
curative effect and molecular mechanism of the herb have not been demonstrated clearly.
Materials and Methods:
In our study, serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin levels
were examined after S. mussotii Franch. treatment in the acute liver injury of the carbon tetrachloride-induced rat model.
Then, Proteome Analysis was applied to explore the potential mechanism of SMT for hepatoprotective effects after iTRAQLC-MS/MS analysis (isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantification-liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer with tandem mass spectrometry).
Results:
Serum results showed, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total bilirubin levels of rats with acute
liver injury were all improved with SMT treatment. Moreover, Proteome Analysis suggested that, with S. Mussotii Franch.
treatment, the levels of lipid catabolic process and lipid homeostasis were all enhanced. And the results of protein-protein
interaction (PPI) analysis illustrated that these proteins assembled in PPI networks were found almost significantly enriched
in response to lipid, negative regulation of lipase activity, response to lipopolysaccharide etc. Furthermore, the downregulated MRP14 and MRP8 proteins were found involved in the lipid metabolism, which may indicate the mechanism of
SMT protection liver from ALI induced by carbon tetrachloride.
Conclusion:
SMT herb could play a role in hepatoprotection and alleviate the effect of acute liver injury by impacting the
lipid metabolism associated biological process.
Contrasting responses of Kupffer cells and inflammatory mononuclear phagocytes to biliary obstruction in a mouse model of cholestatic liver injury
