Abstract: Objective To observe the effects of Sanhuangyinchi Decoction (SHYCD) pretreatment on acute hepatic failure (AHF)
induced by D-galactosamine and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in rats and explore the possible mechanisms involving antioxidant
stress and cell apoptosis-related protein expression. Methods Forty-eight SD rats were randomized equally into control group,
AHF model group, high-, medium- and low-dose SHYCD groups, and Bicyclol group. Five days after administration of the
corresponding drugs, the rats were challenged with peritoneal D-galactosamine (700 mg/kg) plus LPS (10 μg/kg) injections to
induce AHF acute hepatic failure except for those in the control group. At 48 h after the injections, blood samples were
collected from the rats to detect the levels of ALT, AST, TBIL, PT, INR and FIB, and pathological changes and superoxide
dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in the liver were examined; immunohistochemistry and western
blotting were used to detect caspase-3 protein expression in the liver. Results The levels of ALT, AST, TBIL, TP and INR in the 3
SHYCD groups and Bicyclol group significantly decreased (P<0.05) while FIB significantly increased in comparison with those
in the model group. SHYCD obviously ameliorated the pathological changes, enhanced SOD activity (P<0.05), and decreased
MDA levels (P<0.05) and caspase-3 expression (P<0.05) in the liver tissue. SHYCD at the medium dose produced similar effects
to Bicyclol (P>0.05) and showed better effects at the high dose than Bicyclol (P<0.05). Conclusion SHYCD pretreatment can
dose-dependently ameliorate AHF in rats possibly by suppressing antioxidant stress and caspase-3 expression to decrease
hepatic cell apoptosis.