The effects of Acanthopanax senticosus on global hepatic gene expression in rats subjected to heat environmental stress

To determine whether heat environmental stress (HES) affects the livers of rats, we investigated microarray-based expression profiling using an Affymatrix Gene Chip Rat genome 230 2.0 Array. We were also able to examine the effects of Acanthopanax senticosus extract (ASE) on the gene expression profile. Heat environmental stress (HES) induced changes in gene expression transcript profiles, including those related to fatty acid synthase activity, oxidoreductase activity and lipid peroxidation (LPO). We observed dramatically increased malonaldehyde (MDA) levels after HES, which indicates that HES caused LPO through the regulation of oxidative stress and LPO-related transcripts, as revealed by microarray. When ASE was orally administered to the HES group, the number of candidate validation genes as well as the MDA content decreased in comparison to rats that did not receive ASE. Furthermore, rats in the HES group that received orally administered ASE experienced significantly lower oxidative stress, as indicated by the expression of certain genes. Based on the combined results of this study, we concluded that a number of the functional responses to HES at the RNA expression level were revealed by the increased MDA content, which supports the use of rodent models for the study of heat environmental stress. These data indicate that ASE acts as a strong antioxidant in addition to exerting anti-HES effects.