Diagnosis of liver fibrosis.

Hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis represent the main consequence of chronic liver diseases of different origin. Therefore, the clinical assessment of disease severity is a must in the management of patients with chronic liver damage. Although liver biopsy may be associated with sampling error, interobserver variability and potential complications, it still remains the gold standard for establishing the severity of hepatic necroinflammation and fibrosis. In the last years, several non-invasive tests for the assessment of disease activity and stage have been proposed. However, at present all these tests are not totally accurate and reliable and need further evaluation

Effetti salutistici delle bevande alcoliche in rapporto al contenuto di sostanze antiossidanti naturali

poster, XX CONGRESSO NAZIONALE SIA (Società italiana di alcologia) tenutosi presso la Facoltà di Medicina e CHirurgia dell'Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancon

Ethyl caffeoate: Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric analysis in Verdicchio wine and effects on hepatic stellate cells and intracellular peroxidation

Analysis of Verdicchio (a white wine produced in Italy) with high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS-MS) showed a concentration of ethyl caffeoate (CfE), a natural phenolic Substance, of 67.3 mu mol L-1; CfE was then purified from wine with preparative reversed phase HPLC and tested on rat hepatic stellate cell cultures (HSC). HSC proliferation induced by iron(III) nitrilotriacetate (FeNTA), a pro-oxidant agent (absorbance = 0.68 +/- 10.03 versus 0.32 +/- 0.02 in controls), was significantly inhibited by CfE starting at a concentration of 10 mu mol L-1 (absorbance = 0.45 +/- 0.01), with a maximal effect at 20 mu mol L-1 (absorbance = 0.32 +/- 0.02). The formation of intracellular hydroperoxides induced by FeNTA was significantly reduced by CfE starting at a concentration of 10 mu mol L-1 and completely prevented by CfE at a concentration of 20 mu mol L-1. The increase in alpha 1 (I) procollagen mRNA synthesis induced by FeNTA was inhibited by CfE starting at a concentration of 10 mu mol L-1 and almost completely at a concentration of 20 mu mol L-1. Thus, Verdicchio wine is a remarkable source (about seven-fold the bioactive concentration) of CfE, an interesting drug to be tested as an antifibrotic agent

Ethyl caffeate from Verdicchio wine: chromatographic purification and in vivo evaluation of its antifibrotic activity.

Ethyl caffeate (CfE, caffeic acid ethyl ester) was extracted from dealcoholized Verdicchio, a white wine from Marche (Italy) with ethyl acetate and then purified with semipreparative reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) using an ODS2 column (25 cm x 20 mm id) at an isocratic flow of 5 mL/min (the mobile phase A was formic acid 4.5\% in water and the mobile phase B was acetonitrile). The CfE extract administered intraperitoneally at 1 mumol/L in rats previously treated with 10 mg/kg dimethylnitrosamine was able to prevent the dimethylnitrosamine-induced loss in body and liver weight, as well as to reduce the degree of liver injury, as determined by alanine aminotransferase values and necroinflammatory score, after a 1-week treatment. This was associated with a reduced hepatic stellate cells activation (from 16.8 to 8.3\% of smooth muscle actin positive parenchyma) and proliferation (from 11.3 to 5.5 cells/mm(2)). The collagen synthesis was also reduced: the percentage of Sirius Red positive parenchyma decreased from 21.7 to 7.2\%. The CfE levels of Verdicchio wine determined with RP-HPLC-DAD were about 14 times the active levels tested in the in vivo test. CfE can be considered as a promising natural compound for future application in chronic liver disease