title: High-frequency ultrasound imaging to evaluate liver fibrosis progression in rats and yi guan jian herbal therapeutic effects.
abstract: The animals used in liver fibrosis studies must usually be sacrificed. Ultrasound has been demonstrated to have the ability to diagnose hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis in experimental small-animal models. However, few studies have used high-frequency ultrasound (HFU, 40 MHz) to monitor changes in the rat liver and other hollow organs longitudinally. In this study, liver fibrosis was induced by administering dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) in SD rats, aged 8 weeks, for three consecutive days per week for up to 4 weeks. A Chinese herbal medicine Yi Guan Jian (YGJ) was orally administered (1.8 g/kg daily) to DMN-induced liver fibrosis rats for 2 weeks. Compared with the normal control rats, rats treated with DMN for either 2 weeks or 4 weeks had significantly lower body weights, liver indexes and elevation of hydroxyproline, GOT, and GPT contents. YGJ herbal treatment remarkably prevented rats from DMN-induced liver fibrosis. The HFU scoring results among the normal controls, 2-week DMN-treated rats, 4-week DMN-treated rats, and combined 2-week YGJ therapy with 4-week DMN-treated rats also reached statistical significance. Thus, HFU is an accurate tool for the longitudinal analysis of liver fibrosis progression in small-animal models, and the YGJ may be useful in reversing the development of hepatic fibrosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Agricultural Biotechnology Center, iEGG Center, National Chung Hsing University, Kuo Kuang Road, Taichung 402, Taiwan ; Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Chia-Yi Christian Hospital, Chia-Yi 600, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jiun-Yu
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yu-Tang
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Tung
authors.forename: Hsiao-Ling
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chia-Wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: Chia-Hui
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Kowit-Yu
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.forename: Frank Chiahung
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Chuan-Mu
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Chen