Cation A Protects against LPSInduced Liver Injury by Reducing Endogenous CO Production in Rats

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a naturally occurring gaseous transmitter that plays important roles in normal physiology and liver disease. Cation A (CA) has a protective effect on liver injury caused by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). To investigate the protective effects of CA on the LPS-induced liver injury using an endotoxemic rat model, male and female SD rats with acute endotoxemia and pretreated with CA were sacrificed. Liver CO production, liver heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) mRNA, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels, and histopathological alterations in the liver at different time points after challenge were determined. After pretreatment with CA in the endotoxemic rats, the liver damage was alleviated, the generation of endogenous CO in plasma was reduced, and the activity of liver HO-1 and the expression of HO-1 mRNA decreased in liver tissue. This finding supports the notion that excessive CO production contributes to the liver injury in endotoxemia. Inhibition of the synthesis of CO using CA is useful as a therapeutic strategy against the liver injury caused by LPS.