Glycyrrhiza inflata (licorice) has been used to treat liver diseases for a long history. However, the bioactive compounds are still not clear. In this work, 77 compounds, including 9 new ones, were isolated from the EtOAc extract of the roots and rhizomes of G. inflata. The Nrf2 activation activities of all compounds were screened using ARE-luciferase reporter assay on HepG2C8 cells. The results indicated a number of chalcones were potent Nrf2 activators, including 11 (licochalcone A, 4.07-fold), 12 (licochalcone B, 5.17-fold), and 19 (echinatin, 4.09-fold). Further studies indicated that 11, 12 and 19 remarkably attenuated CCl₄-induced acute liver injury in mice (10 or 50 mg/kg, 7 days, ig.). These compounds could be promising hepatoprotective natural agents.

甘草（甘草）用于治疗肝脏疾病已有很长的历史。然而，生物活性化合物仍不清楚。在这项工作中，从膨胀大豆根和根茎的EtOAc提取物中分离出77种化合物，包括9种新化合物。使用ARE-萤光素酶报告基因分析法在HepG2C8细胞上筛选了所有化合物的Nrf2活化活性。结果表明，许多查耳酮是有效的Nrf2激活剂，包括11种（利古耳康A，4.07倍），12种（利古耳康B，5.17倍）和19种（紫锥花，4.09倍）。进一步的研究表明，11，12和19显着地衰减的CCl ₄引起的小鼠急性肝损伤（10或50 mg / kg，7天，如图）。这些化合物可能是有希望的保肝天然药物。