Comment on: Oleanolic acid co-administration alleviates ethanol-induced hepatic injury via Nrf-2 and ethanol-metabolizing modulation (sic) in rats.

To the Editor: Alcohol induced hepatic oxidative stress and inflammation is known to cause liver injury. An increase in reactive oxidative species (ROS) from alcohol consumption leads to oxidative stress [1]. This can activate the inflammatory cytokines, IL-6 and TNF-α which promote liver injury. Both IL-6 and TNF-α are activated and transcribed by the inflammatory molecule, NFκB [2]. We read the interesting paper by Liu et al., entitled, “Oleanolic acid co-administration alleviates ethanol-induced hepatic injury via Nrf-2 and ethanolmetabolizing modulating in rats”, published in your journal recently [3]. The authors demonstrated that oleanolic acid can reduce hepatic injury by elevating Nrf-2 related antioxidants, reduce inflammation, and increase ethanol metabolism. We believe that the mechanism of modulating these signalling pathways could be important for understanding the protective effects of oleanolic acid. Disciplines Medicine and Health Sciences Publication Details Camer, D. & Huang, X. (2014). Comment on: Oleanolic acid co-administration alleviates ethanol-induced hepatic injury via Nrf-2 and ethanol-metabolizing modulation (sic) in rats. Chemico-Biological Interactions, 223 116-116. This journal article is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/ihmri/462 Comment on: Oleanolic acid co-administration alleviates ethanol-induced hepatic injury via Nrf-2 and ethanol-metabolizing modulation (sic) in rats Authors: Danielle Camer and Xu-Feng Huang Affiliation: School of Medicine and Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia. *Corresponding author: Professor Xu-Feng Huang, MD, PhD, DSc Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, NSW, 2522, Australia Tel.: 61-02-42214300 Fax: 61-02-42214096 E-mail address: [email protected]