Therapeutic effects of the traditional medicinal plant Ipomoea stolonifera for the treatment of liver diseases

Liver diseases are categorized into acute liver failure (ALF) and chronic liver failure (CLF). Massive cell death is a hallmark of ALF and leads to a dramatic loss of liver function. Therefore, specific interventions targeted to prevent or attenuate this massive cell death may be very effective in these acute conditions. CLF leads to impairment of metabolism, including the metabolism of various toxins and results eventually in chronic loss of liver function, usually in the presence of continuous inflammation. The consequences and final stages of CLF are liver fibrosis and liver cirrhosis. Initially, fibrosis is the liver's protective response to injury and prevents further damage. However, accumulation of deposited extracellular matrix (type I and type IV fibrillary collagens), severe liver injury and uncontrolled inflammation, will finally cause irreversible liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and even hepatic carcinoma. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to investigate the beneficial effects of the butanol-extract from the traditional medicinal plant Ipomoea stolonifera (BE-IS) and five purified compounds of this extract on acute and chronic liver diseases, in particular inflammatory liver diseases and liver fibrosis in vivo and in vitro.