The hepatotoxicity induced by valproic acid (VPA) has been described in many clinical studies and the related mechanism has been partly elucidated. The objective of this study is to investigate the hepatotoxicity and its underlying mechanism of valproic acid on human hepatoma carcinoma cell line HepG2. The cell viability was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethyltyiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the medium were detected using spectrophotometry. The gene expressions of cytochrome P450 1 A1 (CYP1A1), ATP-binding cassette transporter G1 (ABCG1) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1A), related to lipid transport and fatty acid metabolism, were measured by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR. Treatment with valproate sodium obviously decreased the viability of HepG2 cells, accompanied by the increased leakages of ALT, AST and LDH in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the gene expressions of CYP1A1, ABCG1 and CPT1A were almost up-regulated in the treated groups. In conclusion, these data suggest that VPA-induced hepatotoxicity was critically enhanced with the elevation of valproate sodium, which may be correlated with up-regulated gene expressions of CYP1A1, ABCG1 and CPT1A.
