Hindawi Publishing Corporation Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2013, Article ID 274274, 8 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/274274 Research Article Hepatoprotective Effect of Fermented Soybean (Nutrient Enriched Soybean Tempeh) against Alcohol-Induced Liver Damage in Mice Hamidah Mohd Yusof, 1 Norlaily Mohd Ali, 1 Swee Keong Yeap, 2 Wan Yong Ho, 1 Boon Kee Beh, 3 Soo Peng Koh, 4 Kamariah Long, 4 Suraini Abdul Aziz, 3 and Noorjahan Banu Alitheen 1 1 Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia 2 Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 3 Department of Bioprocess Technology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia 4 Biotechnology Research Centre, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Serdang, Selangor 43400, Malaysia Correspondence should be addressed to Noorjahan Banu Alitheen; noorjahan@biotech.upm.edu.my Received 17 May 2013; Accepted 15 July 2013 Academic Editor: Qing He Copyright © 2013 Hamidah Mohd Yusof et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Recently, soybean tempeh has received great attention due to many advantages such as higher nutritional value, lower production cost, and shorter fermentation time. In this study, the in vivo hepatoprotective and antioxidant efects of nutrient enriched soybean tempeh (NESTE) were determined. NESTE fermentation process which involved anaerobic incubation was previously proclaimed to increase the content of amino acids and antioxidant properties remarkably. he evaluation of histological sections, serum biochemical markers (aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and cholesterol and triglycerides (TG)), liver immune response level (nitric oxide (NO)) and liver antioxidant level (superoxide dismutase (SOD), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and malondialdehyde (MDA)) was conducted in order to compare the efects of nonfermented soybean extract (SBE) and fermented soybean extract (NESTE) on alcohol-induced liver damage in mice. Results demonstrated that 1000 mg/kg of NESTE can signiicantly reduce the levels of AST, ALT, cholesterol, TG, MDA, and NO. On the other hand, it also raised the level of SOD and FRAP. Furthermore, the histological examination on 1000 mg/kg NESTE treatment group showed that this extract was capable of recovering the damaged hepatocytes to their normal structures. hus, it can be concluded that NESTE produced through fermentation process was able to enhance hepatoprotective and antioxidant efects in vivo. 1. Introduction Liver is the largest human’s organs ater skin and it plays several vital functions including the metabolic, vascular, immunological, secretory, and excretory activities in the body [1]. Liver also provides a major function in the metabolism of fat, protein, and carbohydrate [1]. Numerous substances have been demonstrated to be toxic to the liver cells and alcohol was the most reported cause of liver disease worldwide [2]. Consumption of excessive alcohol can contribute to liver diseases which are mostly initiated by acute inlammation followed by the development of steatosis, alcoholic hepatitis, and eventually cirrhosis and ibrosis [3, 4]. To date, 90% of the heavy alcohol drinkers had developed fatty liver disease (steatosis) and 10% to 20% of these heavy drinkers are sufering from alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis [4]. Alcohol-induced liver damage is generally associated with the increasing level of free radicals which cause the development