Herb medicine Gan-fu-kang attenuates liver injury in a rat fibrotic model
2010
Lou, Jing-Lei | Jiang, Miao-Na | Li, Cong | Zhou, Qing | He, Xin | Lei, Hong-Yan | Li, Jin | Jia, Yu-Jie
Aim of the study: To verify therapeutic effects of Gan-fu-kang (GFK), a traditional Chinese medicine compound, in a rat model and to investigate the underlying mechanisms. Materials and methods: Liver fibrosis was established by 12 weeks of carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) treatment (0.5mg/kg, twice per week) followed by 8 weeks of “recovery” in rats. Rats randomly received GFK (31.25, 312.5 and 3125mg/kg/day, p.o.) or vehicle from weeks 9 to 20, and were sacrificed at the end of week 20 for histological, biochemical, and molecular biological examinations. In a separate set of experiments, rats received 12 weeks of CCl₄ treatment, concomitant with GFK (312.5mg/kg/day, p.o.) during the same period in some subjects, but were then sacrificed immediately. An additional group of rats receiving no CCl₄ treatment served as normal controls. Results and conclusions: (1) CCl₄ treatment resulted in severe liver damage and fibrosis. (2) In the main block of the 20-week study, GFK attenuated liver damage and fibrosis. (3) In the 12-week study, GFK produced prevention effect against hepatic injury. (4) GFK suppressed the expression of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1), type I collagen, platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB)/PDGF receptor-β chains (PDGFRβ) and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs)/active protein-1 (AP-1) signal pathways. Taken together, these results indicated that GFK could attenuate liver injuries in both settings. Our findings also suggest that the AP-1 pathway is the likely molecular substrate for the observed GFK effects.
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