A novel liver-targeted and highly selective fluorescent probe for hepatic hydrogen sulfide detection in the diagnosis of drug-induced liver injury

Abstract

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) has emerged as a significant health risk, yet reliable methods of detection at an early stage are in urgent need. Recent researches have highlighted the crucial role of hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) in various pathological and physiological processes, with a correlation between its levels and the severity of DILI. We developed a novel fluorescent probe H₂S-YL for the precise detection of liver H₂S fluctuations in DILI, and the liver in situ accumulation capacity of H₂S-YL has been significantly enhanced by incorporating a liver-targeting cholic acid moiety into its skeleton. Furthermore, H₂S-YL displays exceptional selectivity, good sensitivity and responds rapidly toward H₂S within 3 min, thereby enabling precise detection of subtle hepatic H₂S fluctuations capability essential for accurately assessing the severity of DILI. Subsequently, H₂S-YL was employed to assess the hepatoprotective effects of natural constituents derived from traditional Chinese medicine, via monitoring H₂S levels both in cells and in vivo. These results demonstrate that H₂S-YL serves as a powerful tool for visualizing pathological hepatic H₂S fluctuations, thereby enabling the assessment of DILI severity and the efficacy of hepatoprotective natural constituents.