Improvement Effects of Chelidonine on CCl 4-induced Hepatic Fibrosis Model Rats and Its Mechanism / 中国药房

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE：To study the improvement eff ects and p otential mechanism of chelidonine on CCl 4-induced hepatic fibrosis model rats. METHODS ：According to the random number table method ，a total of 48 rats were randomly divided into normal control group ，model group ，chelidonine low-dose ，middle-dose and high-dose groups （0.125，0.25，0.50 mg/kg），positive control group （Liver-protecting tablet ，0.42 g/kg），with 8 rats in each group. Except for normal control group ，other groups were given CCl 4-olive oil solution intraperitoneally for 8 weeks to induce hepatic fibrosis model. From the fifth week of modeling ， normal control group and model group were given water intragastrically ；administration groups were given relevant medicine intragastrically，once a day ，for consecutive 10 weeks. After last intragastric administration ，hepatic index of rats was calculated. The levels of aspartate aminotransferase （AST），alanine aminotransferase （ALT）and hyaluronic acid （HA）in serum and the level of hydroxyproline （Hyp）in liver tissue were determined. The staining of collagen fibrin in rat liver was observed. The protein expression of α-smooth muscle actin （α-SMA），microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3（LC3）and p 62 as well as the phosphorylation level of phosphoinositide 3 kinase（PI3K），protein kinase B （Akt）and mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR）in liver tissue were determined ；mRNA expression corresponding to above protein were also determined. RESULTS ：Compared with normal control group ，the hepatic index ，the serum levels of AST ，ALT，HA and Hyp ，the percentage of positive staining area for collagen fibrin ，the mRNA and protein expression of α-SMA and LC 3- Ⅱ were increased significantly （P＜0.05）. Protein expression of p 62，phosphorylation levels of PI 3K，Akt and mTOR as well as mRNA expression of p 62，PI3K，Akt and mTOR were significantly down-regulated （P＜0.05）. Compared with model group ，phosphorylation levels of PI 3K and mTOR were decreased significantly in chelidonine low-dose group （P＜0.05）. The changes of above indexes in chelidonine middle-dose and high-dose groups （except for liver index ， HA level in middle-dose group ） were reversed significantly （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS：Chelidonine can attenuate CCl 4-induced liver fibrosis in rats ；the mechanism of it may be associated with activating PI 3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and inhibiting autophagy.