Protective Effects of N-Acetylcysteine in Concanavalin A-Induced Hepatitis in Mice

• Main Authors: Chengfen Wang (Author), Yujing Xia (Author), Yuanyuan Zheng (Author), Weiqi Dai (Author), Fan Wang (Author), Kan Chen (Author), Jingjing Li (Author), Sainan Li (Author), Rong Zhu (Author), Jing Yang (Author), Qin Yin (Author), Huawei Zhang (Author), Junshan Wang (Author), Jie Lu (Author), Yingqun Zhou (Author), Chuanyong Guo (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Hindawi Limited, 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 0962-9351; 1466-1861; 10.1155/2015/189785
• Keywords: Pathology; RB1-214
• Source: Mediators of Inflammation, Vol 2015 (2015)

This study was designed to study the protective effects and mechanisms of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in concanavalin A-induced hepatitis in mice. In this study, pretreatment with NAC ameliorated the histopathological changes and suppressed inflammatory cytokines in ConA-induced hepatitis. The expression of IL-2, IL-6, TNF-α, and IFN-γ was significantly reduced in the NAC-treated groups. NAC activated PI3K/Akt pathway and inhibited the activation of NF-κB. Additionally, NAC reduced autophagosome formation, as assessed by detecting the expression of LC3 and Beclin 1. Our results demonstrate that NAC can alleviate ConA-induced hepatitis by regulating the PI3K/Akt pathway and reducing the late stages of autophagy. Our results described a new pharmaceutical to provide more effective therapies for immune hepatitis.