Protective effects of polyphenols-enriched extract from Huangshan Maofeng green tea against CCl4-induced liver injury in mice

The study was to characterize the polyphenolic composition, antioxidant properties, and hepatoprotective effects of a polyphenols-enriched extract (HMTP) from Huangshan Maofeng green tea. HPLC analysis showed that three predominantly polyphenolic compounds present in HMTP were epigallocatechin (271.2 mu g/mg extract), rutin (239.3 mu g/mg) and epicatechin (89.3 mu g/mg). HMTP was shown to exhibit strong scavenging activities against DPPH center dot, O-2(center dot), and OH center dot, and ferric-reducing antioxidant power in vitro. Administration of HMTP at 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg bw in mice prior to CCl4 injury significantly decreased the CCl4-induced elevation of serum ALT, AST and ALP activities, and prevented an increase in hepatic MDA levels (p < 0.05). Mice with HMTP pretreatment displayed a better profile of hepatosomatic index and the improved GSH-Px and SOD activities in the liver, relative to CCl4-intoxicated mice. Liver pathological observation also confirmed the protection on CCl4-caused histological alteration, suggesting that HMTP has potential to be explored as valuable hepatoprotective function food. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.