Abstract: Aim To study the protective effect of total extract of astragalus(TEA)on primary rat hepatocytes injured by CCl₄ or H₂O₂ and its mechanism.Methods The primary hepatocytes were isolated by Ⅳ collaganase and injured by CCl₄ or H₂O₂.The contents of malondialdehy de(MDA)and glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase(GSHpx)activity of hepatocytes and the AST and or ALT level in cultural supernatant were determined by general methods. Results (1)The elevation of MDA content of hepatocytes and AST level in supernatant of cultural hepatocytes, and the loss of GSH content and GSHpx activity induced by CCl₄ were restored remarkably by TEA(5~80mg·L^-1);(2)The elevation of ALT level in the supernatant of hepatocytes and MDA content of hepatocytes, and the loss of GSH content and GSHpx activity induced by H₂O₂ were improved significantly by TEA( 5~80 mg·L^-1) treatment.Conclusion The results suggest that TEA possess direct protective action on primary hepatocyte in vitro injured by CCl₄ or H₂O₂.These might be associated with its anti-oxidative activity.

Key words: total extract of astragalus(TEA), hepatocyte, CCl₄, H₂O₂, anti-oxidative activity