Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Volume 160, 3 February 2015, Pages 1–5

Research Paper

Effect of alcohol extract of Acanthus ilicifolius L. on anti-duck hepatitis B virus and protection of liver

• Peng-Hai Wei¹,
• Shu-Zhi Wu¹,
• Xiao-Min Mu,
• Bin Xu,
• Qi-Jian Su,
• Jin-Lu Wei,
• Yan Yang,
• Bin Qin,
• Zhi-Chun Xie^,

• 
  

doi:10.1016/j.jep.2014.10.050

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Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Acanthus ilicifolius L. is an important medicinal mangrove plant. It is popularly used for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant activity and hepatoprotective effects. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of treatment with alcohol extract of Acanthus ilicifolius L. on duck hepatitis B.

Materials and methods

One-day-old Guangxi shelducks injected intraperitoneally with strong positive duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) serum were used to establish a duck hepatitis B animal model in the study. The ducks were respectively administered in different groups with low-, middle- and high-dose alcohol extracts of Acanthus ilicifolius L., the positive control drug acyclovir (ACV) and double-distilled water. The levels of serum DHBV DNA were detected by fluorescence quantitative PCR (FQ-PCR). Duck hepatitis B surface antigen (DHBsAg) and duck hepatitis B e antigen (DHBeAg) OD values in the serum were measured by ELISA. The activity of Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) and Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) in the serum was measured, and the livers were taken for histopathological examination.

Results

The levels of serum DHBV DNA and the values of DHBsAg and DHBeAg OD were not significant in any of the dose extract groups. However, the ALT activity was obviously lower in the middle- and high-dose extract groups. It was also found that a high dose of alcohol extract could reduce the activity of AST significantly and significantly improve hepatic pathological effects.

Conclusions

High-dose alcohol extract of Acanthus ilicifolius L. has an obvious protective effect on the liver function and liver tissue. However, the present study finds that Acanthus ilicifolius L. cannot inhibit the replication of duck hepatitis B virus.

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Graphical abstract

Abbreviations

• DHBV, Duck hepatitis B virus;
• FQ-PCR, Fluorescence quantitative PCR;
• DHBsAg, Duck hepatitis B surface antigen;
• DHBeAg, Duck hepatitis B e antigen;
• ALT, Alanine Aminotransferase;
• AST, Aspartate Aminotransferase

Keywords

• Acanthus ilicifolius;
• Alcohol extract;
• Duck hepatitis B virus

Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 771 5358847.

1

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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