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The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of fermented aloe vera mixed diet on larval growth of Protaetia brevitarsis seulensis (Kolbe)(coleopteran : Cetoniidae) and protective effects of extract of larvae of P. brevitarsis seulensis fed fermented aloe vera mixed diet against CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity in Sprague-Dawley rats. To determine whether different diets can affect the larval growth of P. brevitarsis seulensis, six different diets were investigated in the experiment, and the results exhibited that 15% fermented aloe vera with 85% fermented oakwood sawdust was the best diet for larval growth of this insect and follow as 9% fermented aloe vera with 91% fermented oakwood sawdust. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 30) were separated into five groups of six each, as follows: control group; CCl4 group; CCl4 plus larval extract group (without fermented aloe vera); CCl4 plus 9% and 15% larval extract groups (with fermented aloe vera). All extract groups were fed with 30 mg/kg extracts of fermented Oakwood sawdust only and fermented Oakwood sawdust plus 9 and 15% fermented aloe vera, respectively once every consecutive day, with administration of CCl4 (1.5 ml/kg, 20% CCl4 in olive oil) twice a week for 3 weeks. Administration of CCl4 increased the serum alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotranseferase and thiobarbituric acid reactive substance levels in rats and reduced level of glutathione in the liver. Treatment with extract of larval fed fermented aloe vera mixed diet significantly alleviated these changes to nearly normal levels. The histopathological changes induced by CCl4 were also significantly attenuated by extract of larval fed fermented aloe vera mixed diet treatment. The results suggest that beneficial effect of FAV mixed diet on larval growth may be to stimulation of larval life cycle, and extract 15% of larval fed fermented aloe vera mixed diet exhibits potent hepatoprotective effects on CCl4–induced liver injury in rat, likely due to the increase of glutathione contents and the inhibition of lipid peroxidation.

Thimerosal is one of the most widely used preservatives and has been reported to cause chemically mediated side effects. However, the mechanism of the side effects is not clearly understood yet. In the present study, we showed that HeLa S cells treated by thimerosal generated reactive oxygen species (ROS). Thimerosal-generated ROS stimulated the tyrosine phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and also induced cytoskeletal changes. Pretreatment with intracellular calcium chelator, BAPTA did not block the thimerosal-mediated FAK tyrosine phosphorylation. On the other hand, either FAK inhibitor, tyrphostin or ROS scavenger, N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) suppressed the tyrosine phosphorylation and cytoskeletal changes. These results suggest that thimerosal seems to induce FAK tyrosine phosphorylation and cytoskeletal changes by ROS generation but not by intracellular calcium mobilization. We think the present finding can be an important clue to understanding the mechanism of thimerosal-mediated side effects, such as contact dermatitis, and allergy.