Si. Aleynik et al., POLYENYLPHOSPHATIDYLCHOLINE PREVENTS CARBON TETRACHLORIDE-INDUCED LIPID-PEROXIDATION WHILE IT ATTENUATES LIVER FIBROSIS, Journal of hepatology, 27(3), 1997, pp. 554-561
Background/Aims: Polyenylphosphatidylcholine protects against alcoholi
c cirrhosis in the baboon and carbon tetrachloride-induced cirrhosis i
n rats. this study addresses the possible mechanism of the protective
effect of polyenylphosphatidylcholine. Methods: For 8 weeks, rats were
injected with either carbon tetrachloride in peanut oil or peanut oil
alone (control), and pair-fed nutritionally adequate liquid diets wit
h equivalent amounts of linoleic acid either as polyenylphosphatidylch
oline or as safflower oil. Other rats were injected for 9 weeks with h
eterologous albumin and fed the same liquid diets. Lipid peroxidation
was measured by F-2-isoprostanes and 4-hydroxynonenal. Results: Carbon
tetrachloride-induced lipid peroxidation was strikingly attenuated wi
th polyenylphosphatidylcholine supplementation. Levels of hepatic F-2-
isoprostanes and 4-hydroxynonenal paralleled liver fibrotic scores and
collagen accumulation. Polyenylphosphatidylcholine also attenuated th
e fibrosis induced in rats with human albumin, but in this case levels
of hepatic 4-hydroxynonenal did not change, nor were they significant
ly affected by polyenylphosphatidylcholine. Neither carbon tetrachlori
de injection nor polyenylphosphatidylcholine treatment changed the ara
chidonic acid content (a major precursor of F-2-isoprostanes and 4-hyd
roxynonenal) in liver phospholipids, and hepatic vitamin E was not sig
nificantly altered. Conclusions The hepatic protection of polyenylphos
phatidylcholine against carbon tetrachloride appears to be due, at lea
st in part, to an antioxidant effect, whereas the protection against h
eterologous albumin-induced fibrosis suggests that an additional mecha
nism, such as stimulation of collagenase activity, may also be respons
ible.