Protective effects of specific cannabinoid receptor 2 agonist GW405833 on concanavalin A-induced acute liver injury in mice.

Protective effects of specific cannabinoid receptor 2 agonist GW405833 on concanavalin A-induced acute liver injury in mice. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2019 Mar 27;: Authors: Huang ZB, Zheng YX, Li N, Cai SL, Huang Y, Wang J, Hu XW, Wang Y, Wu J, Fan XG Abstract Cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2R) is highly expressed in immune cells and plays an important role in regulating immune responses. In the current study, we investigated the effects of GW405833 (GW), a specific CB2R agonist, on acute liver injury induced by concanavalin A (Con A). In animal experiments, acute liver injury was induced in mice by injection of Con A (20 mg/kg, i.v.). The mice were treated with GW (20 mg/kg, i.p., 30 min after Con A injection) or GW plus the selective CB2R antagonist AM630 (2 mg/kg, i.p., 15 min after Con A injection). We found that Con A caused severe acute liver injury evidenced by significantly increased serum aminotransferase levels, massive hepatocyte apoptosis, and necrosis, as well as lymphocyte infiltration in liver tissues. Treatment with GW significantly ameliorated Con A-induced pathological injury in liver tissue, decreased serum aminotransferase levels, and decreased hepatocyte apoptosis. The therapeutic effects of GW were prevented by AM630. In cell experiments, we showed that CB2Rs were highly expressed in Jurkat T cells, but little expression in L02 liver cells. Treatment with GW (10-40 μg/mL) dose-dependently decreased the viabil...
Source: Acta Pharmacologica Sinica - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Acta Pharmacol Sin Source Type: research