PLoS ONE 2015-01-01

Protective effects of astaxanthin on ConA-induced autoimmune hepatitis by the JNK/p-JNK pathway-mediated inhibition of autophagy and apoptosis.

Jingjing Li, Yujing Xia, Tong Liu, Junshan Wang, Weiqi Dai, Fan Wang, Yuanyuan Zheng, Kan Chen, Sainan Li, Huerxidan Abudumijiti, Zheng Zhou, Jianrong Wang, Wenxia Lu, Rong Zhu, Jing Yang, Huawei Zhang, Qin Yin, Chengfen Wang, Yuqing Zhou, Jie Lu, Yingqun Zhou, Chuanyong Guo

Index: PLoS ONE 10(3) , e0120440, (2015)

Full Text: HTML

Abstract

Astaxanthin, a potent antioxidant, exhibits a wide range of biological activities, including antioxidant, atherosclerosis and antitumor activities. However, its effect on concanavalin A (ConA)-induced autoimmune hepatitis remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of astaxanthin on ConA-induced hepatitis in mice, and to elucidate the mechanisms of regulation.Autoimmune hepatitis was induced in in Balb/C mice using ConA (25 mg/kg), and astaxanthin was orally administered daily at two doses (20 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg) for 14 days before ConA injection. Levels of serum liver enzymes and the histopathology of inflammatory cytokines and other maker proteins were determined at three time points (2, 8 and 24 h). Primary hepatocytes were pretreated with astaxanthin (80 μM) in vitro 24 h before stimulation with TNF-α (10 ng/ml). The apoptosis rate and related protein expression were determined 24 h after the administration of TNF-α.Astaxanthin attenuated serum liver enzymes and pathological damage by reducing the release of inflammatory factors. It performed anti-apoptotic effects via the descending phosphorylation of Bcl-2 through the down-regulation of the JNK/p-JNK pathway.This research firstly expounded that astaxanthin reduced immune liver injury in ConA-induced autoimmune hepatitis. The mode of action appears to be downregulation of JNK/p-JNK-mediated apoptosis and autophagy.