Kampo formula "Hochu-ekki-to" suppressed carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in mice.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether pretreatment with the Japanese herbal medicine "Hochu-ekki-to" (TJ-41) has an ameliorative effect on carbon tetrachloride (CCl)-induced hepatotoxicity through anorexia prevention.

Methods: Twenty-four hours before CCl injection, TJ-41 or saline solution was intraperitoneally administered. Furthermore, 24 h after TJ-41 injection, mice were intraperitoneally administered 1.6 g/kg CCl or olive oil. Moreover, 24 h after CCl/olive oil injection, mice from each group were euthanized and bled for plasma analysis.

Results: Mice injected with CCl exhibited severe anorexia. Moreover, CCl increased the plasma levels of hepatic injury markers (i.e., alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase) as well as lipid peroxidation and hepatic Ca levels. Pretreatment with TJ-41 recovered the CCl-induced anorexia and plasma levels of the hepatic injury markers. Moreover, CCl-induced lipid peroxidation and hepatic Ca levels decreased upon TJ-41 pretreatment. In addition, hepatic metallothionein levels in the TJ-41 + CCl-treated group were decreased by >50 % compared with the levels in the TJ-41-treated group, implying that metallothionein was consumed by CCl-induced radicals.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that TJ-41 attenuates CCl-induced hepatotoxicity, presumably by the induction of metallothionein, which in turn scavenges radicals induced by CCl exposure.