Effects and Mechanism of Qiwei Qinggan Powder on Hepatic Fibrosis Based on Proteomics / 中国药房

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE：To investigate the anti- hepatic fibrosis （HF）effects of Qiwei qinggan powder and explore its possible mechanism. METHODS ：Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into blank group ，HF model group ，Qiwei qinggan powder low-dose，medium-dose and high-dose groups [ 135，270，405 mg/（kg·d），by total amount of crude drugs] ，with 12 rats in each group. Except for blank group ，other groups were given 50％ CCl4-peanut oil solution intragastrically （2 mL/kg，twice a week ，for consecutive 8 weeks） to induce HF model. At same time ， blank group and model group were given constant volume of 0.5％ CMC-Na solution intragastrically ；administration groups were given relevant medicine intragastrically ，once a day ，for consecutive 8 weeks. General situation of rats were observedand liver morphology was observed after last administration and hepatic indexes were detected. The contents of liverfunction indexes （ALT，AST，ALP，HYP）in serum and the expression of α-SMA in hepatic tissue were determined ， and HE and Masson staining were performed to observe the histopathology. Using the difference multiple of expression quantity as the index ，TMT technology was used to screen the differentially expressed protein in medicine group （combining the liver tissue samples of Qiwei qinggan powder groups ）and HF model group. Uniprot-GOA database and KAAS ，KEGG mapper online tools were used to analyze GO and KEGG pathway enrichment. RESULTS ：The rats in the blank group were in good health ；the liver was bright red and smooth ，the liver lobules were intact ，no degeneration and necrosis ，inflammatory cell infiltration or fibrous tissue proliferation was found. Compared with blank group ，the rats in HF model group had poor diet ，depressed spirit ，disordered and lusterless fur ；the liver was dark red or yellow with rough surface ，hard texture ，inflammatory cell infiltration ，fiber tissue destruction ，bridge connection and so on ；the hepatic index ，the contents of liver function indexes and the expression of α-SMA were increased significantly （P＜0.05）. Compared with HF model group ，above symptoms of rats were improved to different extent in different dose groups of Qiwei qinggan powder ；hepatic index in Qiwei qinggan powder low-dose group ，the content of ALP in high-dose group ，the contents of ALT，AST and HYP and the expression of α-SMA in different dose groups were decreased significantly （P＜0.05）. A total of 42 differentially expressed proteins related to HF were screened ，of which 15 were up-regulated and 27 were down-regulated in expression，including fatty acid binding protein 4（FABP4），cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase（CYP7A1）. The results of enrichment analysis showed that the differentially expressed proteins were mainly enriched in extracellular space ，blood particles and other cell parts，involving the molecular functions of oxidoreductase activity and fatty acid binding ，the biological processes of the regulation of heterotypic cell adhesion ，protein activation cascade ，as well as retinol metabolism ，arachidonic acid metabolism ，PPAR and other signal pathway. CONCLUSIONS ：Qiwei qinggan powder can reduce the hepatic index ，ALT，AST，ALP and HYP contents in serum ，down-regulate the expression of α-SMA，improve the degree of inflammation and fibrosis of liver tissue ，and have a certain protective effect on rats. The anti-HF mechanism of it involves multiple targets and signal pathways ，such as FABP 4， CYP7A1 and PPAR.