Response to the Comments on Caspase-Mediated Anti-Apoptotic Effect of Ginsenoside Rg5, a Main Rare Ginsenoside, on Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatotoxicity in Mice

Ginsenoside Rg3 ameliorates acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity by suppressing inflammation and oxidative stress

OBJECTIVES

Improper usage of acetaminophen (APAP) leads to morbidity and also mortality secondary to liver damage. Ginseng could suppress APAP-induced hepatotoxicity and ginsenoside Rg3 is a kind of major component in ginseng against liver damage. Herein, we intended to estimate the beneficial function and molecular mechanism of Rg3 on APAP-caused hepatotoxicity and identified hepatoprotection.

METHODS

A total of 50 C57BL/6J mice were divided into five random groups, and each contains 10 mice as the control, acetaminophen (350 mg/kg) and Rg3 (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg) + acetaminophen (350 mg/kg) groups. These mice were intragastric administration a single dose of acetaminophen by oral treatment behind pre-administered with several doses of ginsenoside Rg3 for six hours.

KEY FINDINGS

According to our data, the injection of APAP (350 mg/kg) enhanced the basal levels of alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase and lactic dehydrogenase. However, these abnormal added were alleviated by Rg3. Moreover, Rg3 treatment obviously relieved APAP-caused inflammation and oxidant in liver tissues. The depletion of glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, total antioxidant capacity and generation of malondialdehyde induced by APAP treatment were reduced by Rg3. By H&E staining, Rg3 effectively reduced APAP-caused apoptosis and inflammatory infiltration. Moreover, Rg3 attenuated APAP-caused hepatic damage in part by regulating the pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, we found that Rg3 could bind to NLRP3 suggesting the anti-inflammatory effects of Rg3 by molecular docking study.

CONCLUSIONS

In summary, Rg3 showed hepatic protective function in APAP-induced hepatotoxicity as evidenced by a reduction of the oxidant and the inflammatory reply, relieve of hepatocellular damage, showing potential in Rg3 as a potential therapeutic medicine to prevent hepatic injury.

Antidiabetic Effects of Arginyl-Fructosyl-Glucose, a Nonsaponin Fraction from Ginseng Processing in Streptozotocin-Induced Type 2 Diabetic Mice through Regulating the PI3K/AKT/GSK-3β and Bcl-2/Bax Signaling Pathways

Streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) caused insulin secretion disorder and hyperglycemia, further causing tissue and organ damage. In recent years, studies on ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) and its saponins (Ginsenosides) have proved to possess antidiabetic pharmacological activities, but the mechanism of nonsaponins on STZ-induced T2DM is still unclear. Arginyl-fructosyl-glucose (AFG) is a representative nonsaponin component produced in the processing of red ginseng. The present study was designed to assess the possible healing consequence of AFG on STZ-induced T2DM in mice and also to explore its fundamental molecular contrivances. T2DM-related indexes, fasting blood glucose levels, and body weight, histological changes, biochemical considerations, biomarkers, the mRNA countenance intensities of inflammatory facts, and variations in correlated protein manifestation in adipose tissue and liver tissue were calculated. Consequences specified that AFG usage successfully amends STZ-induced insulin conflict and liver grievance in T2DM. Systematically, AFG action diminished STZ-induced oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in the liver. In addition, we demonstrated that AFG also attenuates apoptosis and insulin secretion disorders in T2DM by adjusting the PI3K/AKT/GSK3β signaling pathway. At the end, these discoveries recommend that AFG averts the development of T2DM through numerous types of machinery and proposes that AFG can also be used in order to treat T2DM in the future.

Arginyl-fructosyl-glucose, a Major Maillard Reaction Product of Red Ginseng, Attenuates Cisplatin-Induced Acute Kidney Injury by Regulating Nuclear Factor κB and Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/Protein Kinase B Signaling Pathways

Recently, although ginseng ( Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) and its main component saponins (ginsenosides) have been reported to exert protective effects on cisplatin (CDDP)-induced acute kidney injury (AKI), the beneficial activities of non-saponin on CDDP-induced AKI is little known. This research was designed to explore the protective effect and underlying mechanism of arginyl-fructosyl-glucose (AFG), a major and representative non-saponin component generated during the process of red ginseng, on CDDP-caused AKI. AFG at doses of 40 and 80 mg/kg remarkably reversed CDDP-induced renal dysfunction, accompanied by the decreased levels of serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen. Interestingly, all of oxidative stress indices were ameliorated after pretreatment with AFG continuously for 10 days. Importantly, AFG relieved CDDP-induced inflammation and apoptosis in part by mitigating the cascade initiation steps of nuclear factor κB signals and regulating the participation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B signal pathway. In conclusion, these results clearly provide strong rationale for the development of AFG to prevent CDDP-induced AKI.