Combinatorial Herbal Extracts Alleviate Alcohol-Induced Hepatic Disorders

Plant-derived compounds can be useful for the management of liver disease. Traditionally, hepatic disorders have been treated with herbal extracts. Although many herbal extracts in Eastern medicine have been shown to possess hepatoprotective activities, single-origin herbal extracts primarily demonstrate either antioxidant or anti-inflammatory activities. The current study investigated the effects of combinatorial herbal extracts on alcohol-induced hepatic disorders in an ethanol-fed mouse model. Sixteen herbal combinations were evaluated as hepatoprotective formulations; the active constituents in these herbal extracts were daidzin, peonidin-3-glucoside, hesperidin, glycyrrhizin, and phosphatidylcholine. RNA sequencing analysis showed that exposure to ethanol altered hepatic gene expression profiles (compared to those of the non-alcohol-fed group), resulting in 79 differentially expressed genes. A majority of the differentially expressed genes in alcohol-induced hepatic disorders were associated with dysfunction of the normal cellular homeostasis in the liver; however, these genes were repressed by treatment with herbal extracts. Moreover, following treatment with herbal extracts, there were neither acute inflammatory responses in the liver tissue nor abnormalities in the cholesterol profile. These results suggest that combinatorial herbal extracts may alleviate alcohol-induced hepatic disorders by modulating the inflammatory response and lipid metabolism in the liver.