Abstract
Liver inflammation is associated with an increased risk of liver fibrosis that substantially progresses to cirrhosis. Recently, usage of the herbal supplement has been increased because of its emerging role to dominate oxidative stress in hepatic injury. Orientin is one of the bioactive flavonoids that possesses a diversity of curative activities. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the anti-inflammatory role of orientin (1 mg/kg) in vitro in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and in vivo in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver fibrosis in mice. Moreover, the current study was supported by in silico investigation. Orientin demonstrated protection against LPS-induced HSC inflammation as evidenced by a decrease in iNOS, NO, and TNF-alpha and inhibition of the fibrotic markers ZEB-2 and PTEN. In addition, orientin afforded protection against CCl4-induced liver fibrosis in mice as shown from decreased AST/ALT ratio, inhibition of the pro-inflammatory mediators TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-8, and IFN-gamma, reduction of fibrotic markers ZEB-2 and PTEN, and improvement of the histopathological changes. Furthermore, the docking study demonstrated virtual interactions of orientin with ZEB-2 and PTEN. Taken together, the current study suggested that the protective effects of orientin against LPS- and CCl4-induced liver inflammation are via inhibition of fibrotic markers and reduction of pro-inflammatory mediators.