Dihydroquercetin (DHQ) ameliorated concanavalin A-induced mouse experimental fulminant hepatitis and enhanced HO-1 expression through MAPK/Nrf2 antioxidant pathway in RAW cells

• DHQ ameliorates ConA-induced mouse liver injury.
• DHQ inhibits ConA-induced IFN-γ and TNF-α expression in RAW264 cell. DHQ induces HO-1 expression via MEK/ERK, p38 and JNK.

Autoimmune hepatitis represents a ubiquitous human health problem and has a poor prognosis. Dihydroquercetin (DHQ), a well-known antioxidant, significantly inhibits fulminant hepatitis through anti-oxidant and anti-inflammation mechanisms. In this study, we show that administration of DHQ ameliorated concanavalin A (ConA)-induced mouse liver injury by increasing the survival rate, reducing the serum ALT and AST level, preventing histopathological injuries and decreasing pro-inflammatory cytokine mRNA expression in hepatic tissue. As macrophages/Kupffer cells in oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory mediators play an important role in the pathogenesis of immune-mediated hepatitis, we further exposed mouse RAW264 macrophage cell lines to ConA in vitro and found that DHQ significantly inhibited mRNA expression and secretion of IFN-γ and TNF-α in cell culture supernatant. In addition, DHQ significantly enhanced heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression in a dose- and time-dependent manner via increased Nrf2 expression in cytoplasm and nuclear translocation. Furthermore, DHQ enhanced phosphorylation of three members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, and cell treatment with MEK/ERK (PD98059), p38 (SB203580) and JNK (SP600125) inhibitors reduced DHQ-induced HO-1 expression. These results indicate that DHQ possesses hepatoprotective properties against ConA-induced liver injury, which are attributed to its ability to scavenge oxidative stress and to inhibit the release of inflammatory mediators via upregulation of HO-1 activity through the MAPK/Nrf2 signaling pathway in macrophages/Kupffer cells.