1.Glycyrrhizic acid⁃mediated protective effect of miRNAs on alcoholic liver inj ury in rats
Meili Cong ; Mayire Nuermaimaiti ; Bei Zhou ; Ruihua Chen ; Zhong Wang ; Huhu Zhu ; Xiaoguo Zhao
Acta Universitatis Medicinalis Anhui 2023;58(8):1374-1379
Objective :
To investigate the mechanism of miRNAs in glycyrrhizic acid treatment of alcohol⁃induced
liver injury in rats .
Methods :
45 male SD rats were randomly divided into glycyrrhizin group , model group and control group . The rats in glycyrrhizin group were given 56% liquor and glycyrrhizin , the rats in model group were
given 56% liquor , and the rats in control group were given distilled water for 8 weeks . The blood was collected and the serum was separated by centrifugation to detect the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) . RNA were extracted from liver tissues , miRNAs were detected by rat miRNA microarray , and their expression levels were analyzed . The miRNA target genes of differential miRNA were predicted . Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG Pathway enrichment analysis were used to understand the function of differential miRNA , and the differential miRNA⁃mRNA⁃Pathway regulatory network was constructed using Cytoscape to further screen the regulatory key miRNA and key pathways . qRT⁃PCR was used to verify the expression of selected miRNA .
Results :
Compared with the model group , the glycyrrhizin group could significantly improve the liver tissue lesions , and reduce the liver serum AST and ALT levels (P < 0. 05) . Compared the microarray data of glycyrrhizin group and model group , a total of 13 differentially expressed miRNA were screened ( P < 0. 05 , fold change ≥ 1 . 5) , of which 10 were up⁃regulated and 3 were down⁃regulated . The GO classification annotation of differential miRNA target genes showed that differential miRNA were related to cell adhesion , antioxidant activity , metabolic process , biological process regulation , cell killing , immune system and other functions . The KEGG Pathway analyling pathway , Hippo signaling pathway , PI3K⁃Akt signaling pathway , wnt signaling pathway , apoptosis and other signaling pathways might play an important regulatory role in the improvement of alcoholic liver injury by glycyrrhic acid .
Conclusion
This study established the miRNA expression profile of glycyrrhizin in the treatment of alcoholic liver injury in rats , suggested that miR⁃615 , miR⁃107 ⁃3p and miR⁃292⁃5p might play an important role in the treatment of alcoholic liver injury by glycyrrhizin .