Combination Treatment of Korean Thistle and Korean Dandelion Protects Against Acute Alcohol-induced Liver Damage and Gastritis in Mice
Background : Excess alcohol consumption can lead to alcoholic liver damage and gastritis. Korean thistle (Cirsium japonicum var. maackii) has been reported that it’s administration protective from liver from lipid accumulation and toxicity. Also, Korean dandelion (Taraxacum coreanum Nakai) has been traditionally used for treating various inflammation-related diseases including ethanol-induced gastritis. In this study, we aimed to determine whether the combination treatment of Korean thistle and Korean dandelion could regulate alcoholic liver damage and gastritis in mice.
Methods and Results : Seven-week-old mice were treated with ethanol (5 g/㎏ of body weight) by gavage every 12 h for a total of three doses to induce acute liver damage and gastritis. Ethanol extract of Korean thistle, Korean dandelion or combination was gavaged simultaneously with ethanol for three doses. The results showed that the combination treatment of Korean thistle and Korean dandelion significantly inhibited alcohol-induced increase of serum alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase levels, liver weight, and hepatic caspase-3 expressions. Hepatic histopathological changes induced by alcohol were also remarkably improved by the combination treatment. The combination treatment inhibited alcohol-induced Morphological changes of gastritis and attenuated the expressions of pro-inflammatory protein, such as inducible nitric oxide synthase.
Conclusion : The results of our study suggest that the combination treatment of Korean thistle and dandelion may simultaneously alleviate acute alcohol-induced gastritis and liver damage.