title: Alleviating effects of si-ni-san, a traditional Chinese prescription, on experimental liver injury and its mechanisms.
abstract: The present study aims at examining the effects of Si-Ni-San, a prescription usually used for treating hepatitis in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), on various experimental liver injury models and its mechanisms. The prescription showed significant hepatoprotection against CCl(4)-induced hepatic damage, both in vivo and in vitro. To the liver injury induced by Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), Si-Ni-San also provided significant alleviation through enhancing nitric oxide (NO) release by macrophages. Against the liver injury induced by a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to picryl chloride (PCl-DTH), Si-Ni-San alleviated it remarkably when administered during either the induction or effector phase. A significant reduction of in-vitro hepatotoxicity, as measured by the inhibition of serum transaminase evaluation, was observed in nonparenchymal cells from liver-injured mice treated with Si-Ni-San. Si-Ni-San facilitated apoptosis in nonparenchymal cells from liver-injured mice, as well as in spleen cells activated by PCl in vivo or by Con A in vitro. These results suggest that Si-Ni-San provides alleviating effects against liver injury through multiple mechanisms, including protection of the hepatocyte membrane, enhancement of NO release, and dysfunction of liver-infiltrating cells mainly through causing their apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology for Chinese Materia Medica, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjiing, Japan.
authors.forename: Jieyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Chunxiang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride / Q000633:toxicity; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride