Abstract
Endotoxin-induced acute liver injury (ALI) is a severe disease associated with a poor prognosis. Therefore, it is urgent to discover new effective therapies to prevent ALI. Daidzein, extracted from leguminous plants, possess anti-inflammatory and antioxidative bioactivities. However, little is known about whether daidzein could attenuate lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI. We investigated the effects of daidzein on hepatocyte injury and its underlying mechanisms. In LPS-induced hepatocyte supernatant, 100 μM daidzein decreased ALT and AST expression levels by 49.3% ± 5.6% and 39.3% ± 3.5%, respectively, with no cytotoxicity. In addition, the expression of inflammatory factors, including interleukin-1β (IL-lβ), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) were decreased by 100 μM daidzein (73.8% ± 5.3%, 58.8 ± 9.0% and 55.5% ± 7.2%, respectively) in LPS-treated hepatocytes. Western blot analysis showed that daidzein inhibited LPS-induced p-ERK1/2, p-IκBα and p-p65 expression levels. Moreover, 100 μM daidzein reduced the LPS-induced production of Reactive oxygen species by 23.9 ± 7.8% and increased SOD activity by 88.4% ± 18.9% by downregulating Keap-1 and upregulating Nrf2 expression. In conclusion, these data indicate that daidzein ameliorates LPS-induced hepatocyte injury by inhibiting inflammation and oxidative stress.