Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of oridonin on hepatic cytokine levels in mice with polysaccharide（LPS）/ D-galactosamine（D-Gal）-induced acute liver failure. Methods 150 mice were randomly divided into five groups（30 in each group）,e.g.,normal,oridonin control,model,oridonin-intervened,and oridonin-intervened for 12 days. ALF model was established in C57BL/6 mice by intraperitoneal injection of LPS/D-Gal. Results The 48 h lethality rate in LPS/D-Gal-induced group reached an extremely high level of 100%. However,the 48 h survival rates in two oridonin-intervened groups were 64.5% （19/30） and 80.6% （24/30,P<0.01）;The damage in liver tissues was ameliorated in mice pretreated with oridonin as compared with that in the model group;Serum ALT and AST levels in model group were（345.3±54.1） U/L and（500.2±53.5） u/L,significantly higher than those in control group[（42.3±0.6） U/L and（117.1±9.8） U/L,P<0.01] or in oridonin-treated group [（303.9±39.5） U/L and （340.6±2.8） U/L or [（130.2±38.3） U/L and （209.8±36.2） U/L,P<0.05];Administration of oridonin in mice with LPS/D-Gal-induced ALF significantly decreased mRNA levels of hepatic TNF-α,IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-6 compared with in model group（P<0.01）. Conclusion Oridonin has a protective effect on mice with LPS/D-Gal-induced ALF,and the mechanism might be related to inhibition of hepatic cytokine activities.

Key words: Acute liver failure, Lipopolysaccharide, D-galactosamine, Oridonin, Cytokines, Mice