The antioxidant effects of Welsh onion green leaves were investigated in vivo. Earlier studies have demonstrated evidence about increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), enhanced inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression, and elevated nitric oxide (NO) production in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). In this study, SHR were fed with Welsh onion green leaves juice (WOG) (2 g/kg/day) for 28 days, and then the levels of oxidative damage and antioxidant enzyme activities in liver were compared between the fed and control animals. After SHR fed with WOG, the hepatic inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein was markedly suppressed, and the hepatic glutathione level was increased by 12% and lipid peroxidation level was reduced by 22%. Though the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) were not changed significantly, the active glutathione (GSH) reductase was increased by 17% in WOG-fed SHR liver as compared with control group. These results indicate that WOG might play a protective role by decreasing iNOS expression and antioxidative effects in SHR liver. 本實驗探討青蔥綠葉在體內之抗氧化作用。之前的研究已經證實在自發性高血壓大鼠體內有增加活性氧分子，加強誘導型一氧化氮合成酶表現，及增加一氧化氮自由基產生。在本實驗中，青蔥綠葉榨汁(2 g/kg/day)餵食自發性高血壓大鼠28天後，比較餵食組與控制組肝臟之氧化傷害程度及抗氧化酵素活性。結果顯示，自發性高血壓大鼠在餵食青蔥綠葉榨汁後，肝臟中誘導型一氧化氮合成酶表現明顯被抑制，同時，肝臟中GSH增加12%且脂質過氧化指標下降22%。雖然自發性高血壓大鼠在餵食青蔥綠葉榨汁後，superoxide dismutase活性並未明顯改變，但是GSH reductase活性增加17%。這些結果顯示青蔥綠葉榨汁可以藉由減少誘導型一氧化氮合成酶表現及抗氧化作用，而在自發性高血壓大鼠肝臟中扮演保護作用。
