Abstract
Despite the numerous known beneficial effects of flavonoids, knowledge regarding their actions on hepatotoxicity is scanty. We therefore investigated whether the flavonoids quercetin and apigenin could protect human hepatoma cell line HuH-7 against rubratoxin B-induced toxicity. These flavonoids alone markedly retarded cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. Quercetin significantly lessened the inhibitory effects of rubratoxin B on cell proliferation at all concentrations tested (30-100 μM), however apigenin was protective only at low concentration (9 μM). Rubratoxin B stimulated the secretion of tumor necrosis factor- α and macrophage colony stimulating factor, and quercetin and apigenin dose-dependently inhibited the rubratoxin B-induced secretion of these cytokines. Apigenin appears to be a more potent inhibitor of cytokine secretion than is quercetin. Together our results suggest that quercetin and apigenin are protective against rubratoxin B-induced cytotoxicity.
