How-To Protect Your Liver Against Acute Toxicity

The liver is the largest internal organ found in the human which plays an essential role in filtering the blood from the digestive system before passing them to other parts of the body.

The liver also produces cholesterol, a waxy substance which aids digestion, builds cell membranes and produces vitamin D and steroid hormones.

Liver disease is a class of medical conditions characterized by the reduction of partly or completely the function of the liver, including liver failure.

Acute liver diseases in most cases are caused by drugs and long-term intake of certain medications. Most acute liver disease can be cured if the cause is found.

Chronic liver diseases (CLD) are many liver diseases that last more than 6 months. Most chronic liver diseases are caused by a genetic preposition or a variety of factors that damage the liver, including viruses and alcohol use.

The most common symptoms of liver disease are jaundice, abdominal pain and swelling, swelling in the legs and ankles, itchy skin, dark urine color, pale stool color, or bloody or tar-colored stool, chronic fatigue and nausea or vomiting.

Hepatoprotection is the action including the use of a substance such as herbal remedy to protect the liver against damage and injury.

Antihepatotoxicity is the ability that protects the liver against toxins.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common liver diseases in the world affecting 25% of the general population most of them in the Western world.

On finding a natural ingredient for the prevention and treatment of liver diseases, scientists examined the hepatoprotective effects of Angelica sinensis polysaccharide (ASP), an active constituent derived from a water extract of Angelica sinensis, in rats exposed to an APAP overdose.

Angelica or Dang Qui is a herb of Genus Angelica from the family Apiaceae, indigenous to China.

The herb has been used as a Queen herb in traditional Chinese medicine antispasmodic and vasodilatory agent, and to balance the hormones in women for a normal menstrual cycle and menstruation and strengthen heart, spleen, kidneys, and liver for both men and women, etc. In other words, it is used to treat gynecological ailments, fatigue, mild anemia, and high blood pressure. It has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, etc.

According to tested analysis,
* ASP reduced the degeneration of hepatocytes and the amount of cytoplasmic vacuolation in rats exposed to an overdose of APAP.
* ASP markedly alleviated liver injury by increasing the levels of GSH levels and inhibiting hepatic apoptosis.

* In vitro, ASP significantly elevated the survival rate of rat primary hepatocytes exposed to an overdose of APAP.

Collectively, the beneficial effect might be, at least in part, due to the amelioration of lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress, along with the inhibition of apoptosis.

Based on the results, researchers suggest, “Taken together, our findings reveal that ASP has the potential to be used as a hepatoprotective agent for the management of APAP-induced liver injury”.

Taken altogether, Dandelion may be considered a remedy for the treatment of acute liver injury, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it’s news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada – Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Angelica sinensis polysaccharide protects against acetaminophen-induced acute liver injury and cell death by suppressing oxidative stress and hepatic apoptosis in vivo and in vitro by Cao P1, Sun J2, Sullivan MA3, Huang X1, Wang H2, Zhang Y1, Wang N4, Wang K. (PubMed)