Sialoglycoproteins isolated from the eggs of Carassius auratus alleviates CCL4-induced liver injury via downregulation of the IRE-α/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Chemical liver injury is a common cause of liver disease primarily characterized by oxidative stress and inflammation. Sialoglycoproteins isolated from the eggs of Carassius auratus (Ca-SGP) have been proved to exhibit the antioxidant effect. However, the effect of Ca-SGP on liver injury remains unclear. Thus, this study was aimed to determine the effect of Ca-SGP on CCL4-induced chronic chemical liver injury and explore the underlying molecular mechanism. Results showed that Ca-SGP mitigated the elevated levels of serum alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, inhibited the systemic oxidative stress, and reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-1β. Histologic results showed that Ca-SGP supplements alleviated hepatocyte necrosis and liver macrophage infiltration. Further, Ca-SGP supplement decreased endoplasmic reticulum stress-related proteins expression, including BiP, IRE-α, p-IRE-α, and TRAF2, and further inhibited the trigger of the NF-κB pathway. In summary, Ca-SGP might be a novel agent for liver injury treatment, and its potential mechanism was related to the inhibition of liver inflammation induced by the endoplasmic reticulum. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: The fish egg is an important by-product in fish processing. Carassius auratus is a common freshwater fish with large catches and low prices. However, the eggs of C. auratus are usually direct discard or processed into salted roe products, and the quality and value of these salted products are unsatisfactory. In this current study, we confirmed that sialoglycoproteins isolated from the C. auratus eggs have the potential for the treatment of liver injury and determined that its mechanism is related to the endoplasmic reticulum and inflammation, which put forward a new idea for solving the by-product of fish processing.