Effect of leflunomide on immunological liver injury in mice

Table 1 Effects of leflunomide on serum ALT and AST activities induced by BCG+LPS in mice (n = 10, ^-x ± s)

Groups Dose	(mg·kg-1)	ALT (u·L-1)	AST (u·L-1)
Normal		32.1 ± 5.6	35.8 ± 6.4
Model		195.4 ± 21.8d	188.4 ± 22.5d
Leflunomide	4	181.5 ± 19.5d	175.2 ± 18.1d
	12	173.8 ± 15.8ad	166.5 ± 15.7ad
	36	121.8 ± 11.5bd	108.2 ± 9.8bd
Prednisone	3	81.5 ± 7.8bd	64.7 ± 5.8bd

^aP < 0.05,

^bP < 0.01 vs model group;

^dP < 0.01 vs normal group.

Table 2 Effects of leflunomide on serum NO, MDA and GSHpx contents in liver homogenates induced by BCG+LPS in mice (n = 10, ^-x ± s)

Groups	Dose (mg·kg-1)	PlasmaNO (μM)	Liver homogenates
			MDA (nmol/g tissue)	GSHpx (μ/mg protein)
Normal		8.8 ± 1.0	133.2 ± 14.5	163.9 ± 15.9
Model		74.5 ± 10.1d	395.9 ± 23.6d	62.5 ± 8.8d
Leflunomide	4	68.3 ± 8.5d	385.7 ± 22.2d	66.3 ± 9.1d
	12	60.7 ± 7.1bd	363.9 ± 19.3bd	87.1 ± 9.9bd
	36	55.3 ± 6.2bd	301.9 ± 17.1bd	95.1 ± 10.7bd
Prednisone	3	44.4 ± 5.3bd	272.0 ± 15.7bd	108.0 ± 12.0bd

^aP < 0.05,

^bP < 0.01 vs model group;

^dP < 0.01 vs normal group.

Table 3 Influences of leflunomide on serum TNF-α induced by BCG+LPS in mice (n = 8, ^-x ± s)

Groups	Dose (mg·kg-1)	TNF-α (pg·mL-1)
Normal	-	Under detection limit
Model	-	353.3 ± 28.7d
Leflunomide	4	305.0 ± 31.4ad
	12	240.0 ± 31.1bd
	36	140.0 ± 31.1bd
Prednisone	3	88.7 ± 25.6bd

^aP < 0.05,

^bP < 0.01 vs model group;

^dP < 0.01 vs normal group.

Table 4 Influences of leflunomide in vivo on IL-1 and IL-2 production and splenocyte proliferation in mice induced by BCG+LPS. (unit:10³cpm) (n = 8, ^-x ± s)

Groups	Dose (mg·kg-1)	IL-1	IL-2	Splenocyte proliferation
Normal		11.2 ± 2.40	13.3 ± 1.76	17.5 ± 2.26
Model		34.6 ± 3.96d	9.3 ± 1.57d	7.9 ± 1.19d
Leflunomide	4	29.6 ± 3.71ad	8.2 ± 1.44d	7.0 ± 1.01d
	12	18.9 ± 3.28bd	7.6 ± 1.31ad	6.4 ± 0.95ad
	36	16.6 ± 3.08bd	6.5 ± 1.20bd	5.2 ± 0.87bd
Prednisone	3	15.7 ± 2.85bd	5.0 ± 1.12bd	4.4 ± 0.71bd

^aP<0.05,

^bP<0.01 vs model group;

^dP<0.01 vs normal group.