The effect of D‐pinitol on hepatic inflammation induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) in rats

This study assessed the effect of D‐pinitol on hepatic inflammation induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4 ) in rats. Thirty male Sprague‐Dawley rats were divided randomly into 5 groups of 6 rats: normal control group, CCl 4 group, and 3 D‐pinitol groups (100, 200, 500 mg/kg body weight). D‐pinitol was given daily by gavage for 7 consecutive days in D‐pinitol groups. On day 8, CCl 4 (500μg/kg body weight) was intragastrically administrated to each rat in CCl 4 and D‐pinitol groups, and all the thirty rats were killed 24hr later. The serum was isolated to measure the biochenmical parameters such as alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST). The activities of enzyme antioxidants such as glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione raductase (GR) in liver were investigated. Cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP 2E1) genetic expression was analysed by RT‐PCR. Compared with CCl 4 group, D‐pinitol group slightly decreased the CYP 2E1 expression, but did not differentially affect the serum ALT, AST, GPx, GR activities. These data indicated that D‐pinitol treatment at 500 mg/kg body weight does not have effect on the liver inflammation induced by chemical agents such as carbon tetrachloride. However, we found that D‐pinitol lowered the serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels. These will give us inspiration to do research about the hypolipidemic effects of D‐pinitol.