Synergetic Hepatoprotective Effects of Korean Red Ginseng andPueraria Radixon the Liver Damaged-Induced by Carbon Tetrachloride (CCl4) in Mice

This study was designed to investigate the synergetic hepatoprotective effects from a mixture of Korean Red Ginseng and Pueraria Radix on carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 )-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. Liver toxicity was induced by intraperitoneal administration of CCl 4 (0.6 mg/kg) in 12 groups of ICR mice. The negative control group was given CCl 4 without test samples and the normal group was given no treatment. Among treatment groups, the RGAP treatment (Korean Red ginseng acetic acid extract : Pueraria radix water extract, w/w, 38.4:57.6) decreased CCl 4 -elevated ALT (101.60 IU/L), AST (833.89 IU/L), and LDH (365.02 IU/L) levels in the serum, and increased the SOD (11.03 unit/mg protein) and CAT (0.37 unit/mg protein) levels and the LPO levels (59.09 μM/g tissue) more than that in the mice group with CCl 4 -induced control group hepatotoxicity. These results suggest that administration of a mixture of Korean Red ginseng and Pueraria radix decreases CCl 4 -induced liver damage and enhances antioxidant activity in mice and imply that administration of the mixture in a certain ratio is more effective than single administration of either Korean Red ginseng or Pueraria radix alone.