The Liver Protection Effects of Maltol, a Flavoring Agent, on Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Acute Liver Injury in Mice via Inhibiting Apoptosis and Inflammatory Response

The purpose of this research was to evaluate whether maltol could protect from hepatic injury induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)) in vivo by inhibition of apoptosis and inflammatory responses. In this work, maltol was administered at a level of 100 mg/kg for 15 days prior to exposure to a single injection of CCl(4) (0.25%, i.p.). The results clearly indicated that the intrapulmonary injection of CCl(4) resulted in a sharp increase in serum aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) activities, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), irreducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) levels. Histopathological examination demonstrated severe hepatocyte necrosis and the destruction of architecture in liver lesions. Immunohistochemical staining and western blot analysis suggested an accumulation of iNOS, NF-κB, IL-1β and TNF-α expression. Maltol, when administered to mice for 15 days, can significantly improve these deleterious changes. In addition, TUNEL and Hoechst 33258 staining showed that a liver cell nucleus of a model group diffused uniform fluorescence following CCl(4) injection. Maltol pretreatment groups did not show significant cell nuclear condensation and fragmentation, indicating that maltol inhibited CCl(4)-induced cell apoptosis. By evaluating the liver catalase (CAT), glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and further using a single agent to evaluate the oxidative stress in CCl(4)-induced hepatotoxicity by immunofluorescence staining, maltol dramatically attenuated the reduction levels of hepatic CAT, GSH and SOD, and the over-expression levels of CYP2E1 and HO-1. In the mouse model of CCl(4)-induced liver injury, we have demonstrated that the inflammatory responses were inhibited, the serum levels of ALT and AST were reduced, cell apoptosis was suppressed, and liver injury caused by CCl(4) was alleviated by maltol, demonstrating that maltol may be an efficient hepatoprotective agent.