Extract of fermented barley attenuates chronic alcohol induced liver damage by increasing antioxidative activities

Chronic consumption of alcohol leads to liver disorders primarily as hepatosteatosis, and increase of oxidative stress. The abundance of these reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a result of ethanol (ethyl alcohol) oxidation by alcohol dehydrogenase and cytochrome p450 2E1 (CYP2E1). In order to address this problem with natural substance, the high polyphenol content of barley has been numerously cited to provide excellent antioxidative effect. In this study, we investigated the effect of fermented barley extract (FBE) in chronic ethanol fed female Wistar rats. We obtained significant decrease of plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities in the FBE supplemented group. Further examinations revealed that FBE induces substantial improvement in hepatic gene expressions of key anti-oxidative genes, reinforced by its increase of enzymatic activities and subsequent suppression of oxidative stress. Thus we have demonstrated a novel approach for the use of barley as supplements to attenuate chronic alcohol consumption. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.