Water extract of lotus leaves has hepatoprotective activity by enhancing Nrf2- and epigenetics-mediated cellular antioxidant capacity in mouse hepatocytes

The liver is an important organ in the human body; however, studies have shown that the excessive intake of acetaminophen (APAP), the primary ingredient in marketing pain relievers, may cause oxidative damage to liver cells. Here we found that lotus leaf water extract (LL-WE) enriched with various phenolic compounds can prevent mice AML-12 hepatocytes from APAP-induced injury, and trigger the Nrf2 pathway in HepG2-C8 cells with ARE-luciferase plasmid. LL-WE effectively induced Nrf2 nuclear translocation and glutathione synthesis, increased gene expression of antioxidant enzymes (HO-1, NQO1, and UGT1A), and reduced protein levels of epigenetic modification enzymes (HDACs and DNMTs) in AML-12 cells. LL-WE also inhibited the activity of M.SssI CpG methyltransferase in vitro. These results suggest that LL-WE can be a potential hepatoprotective agent to reduce oxidative stress-induced liver damage by activating the Nrf2 pathway and downregulating epigenetic modification enzymes.