Graptopetalum paraguayense, an affordable herbal crop, can reverse hepatic damage in vivo

Progression of hepatitis is a common and potentially lethal problem in chronic liver disease in Taiwan. Incidence of cirrhosis is growing as a result of the widespread occurrence of chronic hepatitis, as well as the evident lack of an established therapy for hepatitis. Herbal medicines have been used in Chinese population for thousands of years and have been increasingly popular in western countries as alternative medicines for a wide variety of diseases. The whole plant of Graptopetalum paragnyense, a popular herbal medicine, has been considered to have hepatoprotective effects and its freeze-dried powder has been demonstrated in our previous studies to have anti-inflammation, hepatoprotective and antifibrotic effects if fed to rats with dimethylnitrosamine-induced liver injuries at 1.4 g/kg/day. In this study, we applied microarray technology to uncover the underlying molecular mechanisms. By comparing expression profiles among healthy livers, untreated damaged livers and damaged livers treated for 6 weeks, we have identified the 156 damage-related genes whose abnormal expression levels are effectively restored by G. paragnyense. Using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, we have verified that G. paragnyense extracted from 5 different harvests exhibit consistent chemical fingerprints. G. paragnyense does not change expression levels of ALT, AST, bilirubin, AKP, AFP, BUN, PT, and PLT in healthy livers. The above results suggest that G. paragnyense makes a potential therapeutic medicine for treating hepatitis.