The mice were given free access to control diet or alcohol Lieber–DeCarli liquid Selleck BIBF1120 diet for 4 weeks with or without RGE (250 mg/kg or 500 mg/kg, per os, n = 8) The mice were randomly assigned to the groups specified. The second was a mouse model of chronic–binge EtOH intake. The mice were fed with the control diet for 5 days, and then divided into four groups. The EtOH groups were fed with the Lieber–DeCarli liquid diet containing 5% EtOH for 10 days with or without RGE (250 mg/kg or 500 mg/kg, per os, n = 8). The control groups were pair-fed the

control diet for 10 days. At Day 11, mice in EtOH groups were gavaged a single dose of EtOH (5 g/kg body weight, 20% EtOH), whereas mice in control groups were gavaged isocaloric dextrin maltose. The mice were sacrificed 9 hours after gavage. AML12 cell lines were purchased from ATCC (Manassas, VA, USA). Cells were plated at a density of 3 × 105/well in 60 mm dishes and grown to 70–80% confluency. Cells were maintained in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium: Nutrient Mixture F-12 containing 10% fetal bovine serum (Hyclone, Logan, UT, USA), 50 units/mL penicillin, 50 μg/mL streptomycin, GSK1349572 cost 0.005 mg/mL insulin, 0.005 mg/mL transferrin, 5 ng/mL selenium, and 40 ng/mL dexamethasone at 37°C in a humidified atmosphere with 5% CO2. RGE or ginsenosides were dissolved in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and added to the cells. The cells were then incubated at

37°C for the indicated time period, and washed twice with ice-cold PBS prior to sample preparation. Plasma alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase Non-specific serine/threonine protein kinase (AST) were analyzed using Spectrum, an automatic blood chemistry analyzer (Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL, USA). Samples from the liver

were separated and fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin. The samples were then embedded in paraffin, sectioned (3–4 μm), and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) for general histopathological analysis. In addition, the effect of RGE treatment on the 4-HNE and nitrotyrosine immunoreactivity was also observed by immunohistochemical methods. For the analysis of fat accumulation in the liver, 10-μm sections were cut from frozen samples and stained with Oil Red O for 10 min. The slides were rinsed in water and counterstained with Mayer’s hematoxylin, followed by analysis using light microscopy. Lipid droplet formation in hepatocytes was determined by Oil Red O staining. Cells were grown on a six-well plate. After treatment, the cells were fixed 4% formaldehyde in PBS for 1 h and rinsed with 60% isopropanol. Cells were then stained with Oil Red O solution. Hepatic lipid content was measured as described previously [25]. Briefly, lipids from the total liver homogenate were extracted using chloroform/methanol (2:1), evaporated, and dissolved in 5% triton X-100. Triglyceride content was determined using Sigma Diagnostic Triglyceride Reagents (Sigma).