Min A Kim^{1, 2}, Chul-Jun Lee^{1, 2}, Seon-ah Park^{1, 3}, Do Hun Kim^{1, 3}, Don-Haeng Lee², Su-Geun Yang^{1, 3,}

In this study, we investigated the hepatoprotective properties of 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (DQA), a polyphenolic compound from green coffee beans, against dimethylnitrosamine (DMN)-induced hepatic fibrosis rat models. DQA, up to 10 μM concentration, did not exhibit any cytotoxic effect on Chang liver cells and Huh7 cells. DMN-treated rats showed typical biological symptoms of hepatic fibrosis, i.e., loss of body weight and pathological elevation of serum biomarkers for hepatic function. However, oral administration of DQA recovered body weight, and maintained serum biochemical markers such as albumin, bilirubin, ALP, ALT and AST in the normal range. Notably, histological and western assay proved DQA significantly alleviated collagen accumulation (α-smooth muscle actin, alpha 1 collagen type I) in liver tissue. The upregulated tissue expression of erythroid 2–related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) suggested DQA upregulated the representative antioxidant enzymes and ameliorated the progression of hepatic fibrosis in DMN-treated rats.

3, 5-dicaffeoylquinic acid, Polyphenol, Antioxidant, Hepatic fibrosis, Reactive oxygen species, green coffee beans, Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway