Résumé
OBJECTIVE To study the inhibitory effects and possible mechanism of naringenin on the activation of hepatic stellate cells. METHODS Using human hepatocytes LO2 as reference， based on drug intervention concentration screened by MTT assay， the effects of naringenin （Western blot assay and trypan blue staining test in 10， 20， 40 μmol/L， immunofluorescence assay in 40 μmol/L） on the expressions of liver fibrosis markers protein （collagen Ⅰ， α-SMA） and mRNA （α1-pro collagen Ⅰ， α-SMA） in human hepatic stellate cells LX2， and the expressions of cell apoptosis and apoptosis-related proteins （Bcl-2， Bax， cleaved caspase-3） were investigated. The apoptosis agents （Z-VAD-FMK， FMK）， ferroptosis pathway inhibitor ferrostatin-1， and programmed death pathway inhibitor necrostatin-1 were used to verify the mechanism of the above effects. RESULTS The naringenin could significantly down-regulate protein expressions of collagen Ⅰ （except for naringenin 10 μmol/L） and α-SMA， mRNA expressions of α1-pro collagen Ⅰ （except for naringenin 10 μmol/L） and α-SMA （P＜0.05）； it also induced LX2 cell apoptosis and increased its apoptotic ratio， down-regulated the protein expression of Bcl-2 while up-regulated the protein expressions of Bax （except for naringenin 10 μmol/L） and cleaved caspase-3 （except for naringenin 10 μmol/L）. FMK could reverse above effects of naringenin on LX2 cells （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS Naringenin can inhibit the activation of hepatic stellate cells LX2 through activating the cell apoptosis signal， which plays ameliorative role in liver fibrosis.