The Alexipharmic Mechanisms of Five Licorice Ingredients Involved in CYP450 and Nrf2 Pathways in Paraquat-Induced Mice Acute Lung Injury

Figure 8

Function and morphology of liver and renal tissues in mice. (a) The levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT/GPT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST/GOT) in serum. According to the elevated levels of AST/GOT and ALT/GPT in mice in the model group, the liver function of mice after intake of paraquat was damaged (). After treatment with licorice extract, the levels of AST/GOT and ALT/GPT tended to control group and decreased in a dose-dependent manner, especially in licorice extract (60 mg/kg) (). (b) The level of renal function was reflected by blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (CRE) levels. Data are ; . Compared with the CTR group, , ; compared with the MOD group, , . Compared with the control group, the model group had increased BUN and CRE significantly (). Compared with the model group, the licorice extract groups had decreased BUN especially in the licorice extract (60 mg/kg) group (). (c, d) H&E staining results of renal and liver tissues. The pathological results of renal and liver tissues showed that no abnormalities were found in normal control; the morphological injury was severe in the paraquat group, which was alleviated in the licorice extract (60 mg/kg) group. Liver and renal sections were analyzed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining (magnification is ×200).

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