Polyphenol-rich extract from Sanghuangporous vaninii against acetaminophen-induced liver injury by blocking ferroptosis via NRF2/GPX4 pathway

Acetaminophen (APAP) used as an antipyretic and analgesic agent can cause acute liver injury (AILI) under overdose. Sanghuangporous vaninii (S. vaninii) is a edible fungus with abundant metabolites exhibits excellent hepatoprotective activities, but the effect for AILI is not yet fully understood. In this study, the polyphenol-rich extract from S. vaninii (PSV) was prepared, with a total phenolic content of 75.72% and 34 compounds. The data of hepatoprotection indicated that PSV obviously alleviated the hepatocellular injury induced by APAP in vivo and in vitro. The protective mechanism of PSV against APAP-induced AILI might be attributed to the activating NRF2/GPX4 pathway. Based on network pharmacology analysis, the active components of PSV such as caffeic acid, osmundacetone and hispolone played a key role in hepatoprotection of PSV. Consequently, this study highlights the protection of PSV on AILI, which provides new insight into bioactivities of S. vaninii.