Aluminum (Al) is known to exert hepatotoxicity. However, the mechanisms mostly are unclear. Liver is a metabolism organ that maintains the energy level and structural stability of body, mitochondria are the main sites of energy metabolism, thus, we hypothesized that mitochondrial energy metabolism disorder contributes to
liver dysfunction in
aluminum chloride (
AlCl3) treatment rat. To verify the hypothesis, forty male Wistar rats were randomly allocated and orally exposed to 0, 64mg/kg, 128mg/kg and 256mg/kg
body weight AlCl3 in
drinking water for 120days, respectively. We found that
AlCl3 exposure reduced the electron transport chain complexes I-V activities and
adenosine triphosphate (
ATP) level, as well as disturbed
mitochondrial DNA transcript, presenting as the inhibited
mRNA expressions of
NADH dehydrogenase 1,
NADH dehydrogenase 2,
cytochrome b,
cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1,
cytochrome c oxidase subunit 3 and
ATP synthase 6, indicating that
AlCl3 exposure disturbs the mitochondrial energy metabolism, and it caused an increase in liver
enzymes (
Aspartate aminotransferase and
Alanine aminotransferase) and histopathological lesions. Additionally, we found that
reactive oxygen species accumulation and decreased
superoxide dismutase activity in mitochondria, and increased
8-Hydroxydeoxyguanosine levels in
mitochondrial DNA, demonstrating
AlCl3 exposure promotes mitochondrial oxidative stress, which may be a contributing factor to mitochondrial energy metabolism disorder and
liver dysfunction. The study displayed that mitochondria are the potential target of liver damage induced by
AlCl3, providing considerable direction for the prevention and clinical intervention of
liver diseases.