Preventive effect of Qianggan-Rongxian Decoction on rat liver fibrosis

• Published in: World journal of gastroenterology : WJG Vol. 14; no. 22; pp. 3569 - 3573
• Main Authors: Li, Chun-Hui, Pan, Li-Hui, Yang, Zong-Wei, Li, Chun-Yu, Xu, Wen-Xie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Department of Pathology, Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical College, Chengde 067000, Hebei Province, China%Chengde Medical College, Chengde 067000, Hebei Province, China%Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200030, China 14.06.2008; The WJG Press and Baishideng
• Subjects: Alanine Transaminase - blood; Animals; Aspartate Aminotransferases - blood; Collagen Type IV - blood; Disease Models, Animal; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - therapeutic use; Hyaluronic Acid - blood; Laminin - blood; Liver - pathology; Liver - ultrastructure; Liver Cirrhosis - drug therapy; Male; Medicine, Chinese Traditional; Rapid Communication; Rats; Rats, Wistar; 动物模型; 肝纤维化; 预防效果; Prevention; Rat model; Liver fibrosis; Qianggan-Rongxian Decoction; Dimethylnitrosamine
• ISSN: 1007-9327; 2219-2840
• DOI: 10.3748/wjg.14.3569

AIM： To study the preventive effects of Qianggan-Rongxian Decoction on liver fibrosis induced by dimethylnitrosamine （DMN） in rats. METHODS： Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into hepatic fibrosis model group, control group and 3 treatment groups （12 rats in each group）. Except for the normal control group, all the rats received 1% DMN （10 μL/kg body weight, i.p）, 3 times a week for 4 wk. The rats in the 3 treatment groups including a high-dose DMN group （10 mL/kg）, a medium-dose DMN group （7 mL/kg）, and a low-dose DMN group （4 mL/kg） were daily gavaged with Qianggan-Rongxian Decoction, and the rats in the model and normal control groups were given saline vehicle. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to determine the changes in serum hyaluronic acid （HA）, laminin （LN）, and type IV collagen levels. Serum alanine aminotransferase （ALT） and aspartate aminotransferase （AST） levels were measured using routine laboratory methods. Pathologic changes, particularly fibrosis, were examined by hematoxylin and eosin （HE） and Sirius red staining. Hepatic stellate cells （HSC） were examined by transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS： Compared with the model control group, the serum levels of HA, LN, type Ⅳ collagen, ALT and AST were decreased markedly in the other groups after treatment with Qianggan-Rongxian Decoction, especially in the medium-dose DMN group （P 〈 0.05）.Moreover, the area-density percentage of collagen fibrosis was lower in the Qianggan-Rongxian Decoction treatment groups than in the model group, and a more significant drop was observed in the medium-dose DMN group （P 〈 0.05）. CONCLUSION： Qianggan-Rongxian Decoction can inhibit hepatic fibrosis due to chronic liver injury, delay the development of cirrhosis, and notably ameliorate liver function. It may be used as a safe and effective thera-peutic drug for patients with fibrosis.