A complex antioxidant system has been developed in mammals to relieve oxidative stress. However, excessive reactive species derived from oxygen and nitrogen may still lead to oxidative damage to tissue and organs. Oxidative stress has been considered as a conjoint pathological mechanism, and it contributes to initiation and progression of liver injury. A lot of risk factors, including alcohol, drugs, environmental pollutants and irradiation, may induce oxidative stress in liver, which in turn results in severe liver diseases, such as alcoholic liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Application of antioxidants signifies a rational curative strategy to prevent and cure liver diseases involving oxidative stress. Although conclusions drawn from clinical studies remain uncertain, animal studies have revealed the promising in vivo therapeutic effect of antioxidants on liver diseases. Natural antioxidants contained in edible or medicinal plants often possess strong antioxidant and free radical scavenging abilities as well as anti-inflammatory action, which are also supposed to be the basis of other bioactivities and health benefits. In this review, PubMed was extensively searched for literature research. The keywords for searching oxidative stress were free radicals, reactive oxygen, nitrogen species, anti-oxidative therapy, Chinese medicines, natural products, antioxidants and liver diseases. The literature, including ours, with studies on oxidative stress and anti-oxidative therapy in liver diseases were the focus. Various factors that cause oxidative stress in liver and effects of antioxidants in the prevention and treatment of liver diseases were summarized, questioned, and discussed.

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The Role of Oxidative Stress and Antioxidants in Liver Diseases

Mushrooms have been consumed since earliest history; ancient Greeks believed that mushrooms provided strength for warriors in battle, and the Romans perceived them as the “Food of the Gods.” For centuries, the Chinese culture has treasured mushrooms as a health food, an “elixir of life.” They have been part of the human culture for thousands of years and have considerable interest in the most important civilizations in history because of their sensory characteristics; they have been recognized for their attractive culinary attributes. Nowadays, mushrooms are popular valuable foods because they are low in calories, carbohydrates, fat, and sodium: also, they are cholesterol-free. Besides, mushrooms provide important nutrients, including selenium, potassium, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin D, proteins, and fiber. All together with a long history as food source, mushrooms are important for their healing capacities and properties in traditional medicine. It has reported beneficial effects for health and treatment of some diseases. Many nutraceutical properties are described in mushrooms, such as prevention or treatment of Parkinson, Alzheimer, hypertension, and high risk of stroke. They are also utilized to reduce the likelihood of cancer invasion and metastasis due to antitumoral attributes. Mushrooms act as antibacterial, immune system enhancer and cholesterol lowering agents; additionally, they are important sources of bioactive compounds. As a result of these properties, some mushroom extracts are used to promote human health and are found as dietary supplements.

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Edible Mushrooms: Improving Human Health and Promoting Quality Life

Quercetin is a bioactive compound that is widely used in botanical medicine and traditional Chinese medicine due to its potent antioxidant activity. In recent years, antioxidant activities of quercetin have been studied extensively, including its effects on glutathione (GSH), enzymatic activity, signal transduction pathways, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by environmental and toxicological factors. Chemical studies on quercetin have mainly focused on the antioxidant activity of its metal ion complexes and complex ions. In this review, we highlight the recent advances in the antioxidant activities, chemical research, and medicinal application of quercetin.

Antioxidant Activities of Quercetin and Its Complexes for Medicinal Application.

The particular characteristics of growth and development of mushrooms in nature result in the accumulation of a variety of secondary metabolites such as phenolic compounds, terpenes and steroids and essential cell wall components such as polysaccharides, b-glucans and proteins, several of them with biological activities. The present article outlines and discusses the available information about the protective effects of mushroom extracts against liver damage induced by exogenous compounds. Among mushrooms, Ganoderma lucidum is indubitably the most widely studied species. In this review, however, emphasis was given to studies using other mushrooms, especially those presenting efforts of attributing hepatoprotective activities to specific chemical components usually present in the mushroom extracts.

https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/18/7/7609/pdf

Hepatoprotective Effects of Mushrooms

Multi-spectroscopic investigation, molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation of competitive interactions between flavonoids (quercetin and rutin) and sorafenib for binding to human serum albumin.

Agaricus blazei Murill as an efficient hepatoprotective and antioxidant agent against CCl4-induced liver injury in rats.

Quercetin, a member of the flavonoid family is a major antioxidant acquired in humans by food consumption, while Cadmium fluoride (CdF 2) is one of the naturally occurring chemicals having adverse effects. The protec tive effect of quercetin on time dependent oxidative damage induced in mice liver by CdF2 was studied in the following groups of mice consisting of six mice each: (i) control group; (ii) mice treated with single i.p injection of 2 mg/kg bw CdF2 for 24 h; (iii) mice treated with single i.p injection of 2 mg/kg bw CdF2 for 48 h; (iv) mice treated with single i.p injection of quercetin (100 mg/ kg bw); (v) mice treated with i.p injection of 100 mg/kg bw of quercetin followed by i.p injection of CdF2 (2 mg/ kg bw) for 24 h; and (vi) mice treated with i.p injection of 100mg/kg bw of quercetin followed by CdF2 (2 mg/ kg bw) for 48 h. Administration of quercetin two hours before CdF2 significantly reduced the biochemical altera tions in reduced glutathione, ascorbic acid, lipid peroxidation, super oxide dismutase, catalase and total protein (p<0.05). Histopathology also showed the protective effect of quercetin. The livers treated with CdF 2 were atrophic, markedly nodular, inflamed and necrotic. How ever, this effect was reduced to a minimum in the mice pre-treated for two hours with quercetin.

/pdf/protective-effects-of-quercetin-on-cadmium-fluoride-induced-2vs2dwpbrs.pdf

Protective effects of quercetin on cadmium fluoride induced oxidative stress at different intervals of time in mouse liver.

Propionic acid (PA) is a short chain fatty acid, a common food preservative and metabolic end product of enteric bacteria in the gut. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of PA on liver injury in male rats. Male western albino rats were divided into two groups. The first group served as normal control, the second was treated with PA. The activities of serum hepatospecific markers such as aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase were estimated. Antioxidant status in liver tissues was estimated by determining the level of lipid peroxidation and activities of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants. Sodium and potassium levels were also measured in liver tissue. PA treatment caused significant changes in all hepatospecific markers. Biochemical analysis of liver homogenates from PA-treated rats showed an increase in oxidative stress markers like lipid peroxidation and lactate dehydrogenase, coupled with a decrease in glutathione, vitamin C and glutathione S- transferase. However, PA exposure caused no change in sodium and potassium levels in liver tissue. Our study demonstrated that PA persuade hepatic damage in rats.

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Impact of Propionic Acid on Liver Damage in Rats.

Abstract Plant-mediated silver nanoparticles are unique and are considered one of the best nanomaterials used in cancer research. We report a low-cost, eco-friendly process of green synthesis of AgNPs from Commiphora gileadensis stem extracts and evaluated their anticancer potential against colon cancer cell lines HCT-116, HT 29, and SW620. Anticancer activities were performed by an MTT assay and gene expression levels of four genes CHEK1, CHEK2, ATR, and ATM by the real-time polymerase chain reaction. Particles were initially confirmed by UV-visible spectroscopy. The morphology and stability of the particles were examined through TEM, zeta potential, and zeta sizer. GC-MS and FTIR were performed to examine the functional groups. The absorption peak was recorded at 430 nm; the average size recorded by TEM images was 13 nm, while the zeta potential and zeta sizer study showed aggregation in nanoparticles. Compared to C. gileadensis extracts, some of the FT-IR spectrum peaks were sight shifted with some new peaks in C. gileadensis AgNPs. C. gileadensis AgNPs were more toxic against HT29 followed by HTC116 and SW620. Expression levels of most of the genes in HCT116 and HT29 were increased by treatment whereas the gene expression level was least affected in SW620. C. gileadensis AgNPs have anticancer potential and need to be explored in cancer research.

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Sooad Al Daihan

Papers

Agaricus blazei Murill as an efficient hepatoprotective and antioxidant agent against CCl4-induced liver injury in rats.

Protective effects of quercetin on cadmium fluoride induced oxidative stress at different intervals of time in mouse liver.

Impact of Propionic Acid on Liver Damage in Rats.

Anticancer potential of biogenic silver nanoparticles using the stem extract of Commiphora gileadensis against human colon cancer cells

Green-synthesized silver nanoparticles with aqueous extract of green algae Chaetomorpha ligustica and its anticancer potential