RESUMO
Objective:To assess the preventive and therapeutic effects and primary mechanisms of Danshen injections in the treat-ment of hepatic encephalopathy ( HE) . Methods:The acute ammonia poisoning model induced by ammonium chloride was established in mice, and HE model with liver injury induced by carbon tetrachlorie and high blood ammonia induced by thioacetamide was made in rats. The time of death was detected in the first model, and the histamine levels in blood and brain, liver function and liver pathologi-cal histology changes were detected respectively in the other model. Results:In the acute ammonia poisoning experiment, the time of death in Danshen injections group was longer than that in the control group. Furthermore, Danshen injections could notably decrease the histamine levels in blood and brain, reduce the levels of ALT, AST, ALP and Tbil in serum and improve the function of liver to show the preventive and therapeutic effects on HE. Conclusion:Danshen injections exhibit promising preventive and therapeutic effects on HE, which may be related to decreasing histamine levels in blood and brain.