title: Hepatoprotective effects of Dicliptera chinensis polysaccharides on dimethylnitrosamine-induced hepatic fibrosis rats and its underlying mechanism.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dicliptera chinensis is a traditional herbal medicine used anciently in China for hepatopathy treatment, especially in south areas. Our several studies have demonstrated that dicliptera chinensis polysaccharides (DCP), which has a markedly protective effects on chemistry-induced models of acute liver injury in rats. In this study, we further investigated the potentially hepatoprotective effect of dicliptera chinensis polysaccharides (DCP) on hepatic fibrosis (HF) rats induced by dimethylnitrosamine (DMN).
  
  
  METHODS
  The 96 rats were randomly divided into six groups (n=16, per group), the normal control group intragastrically administrated normal saline, model control group intraperitoneally injected with 0.5% DMN solution at 1.6mL per kg (three times a week); colchicine intragastrically administrated group (0.2mgkg(-)(1)d(-1))+DMN-treated rats; DCP intragastrically administrated groups (100mgkg(-)(1)d(-)(1), 200mgkg(-1)d(-1), 300mgkg(-1)d(-1))+DMN-treated rats. At the end of 8 weeks, all rats were sacrificed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pathological examination showed that high and medium doses of DCP presented remarkable effect in ameliorating hepatic fibrosis, alleviate the inflammation, necrosis and reduced collagen deposits. DCP effectively improved the liver function, as revealed in being lowered sero-enzyme levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (TBIL) while increased albumin (ALB), and being reduced sero-concentrations of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the HF rats. Additionally, the contents of hyaluronic acid (HA), collagen type Ⅳ (Ⅳ-C), type III precollagen (PCIII) and laminin (LN) in the hepatic tissue of HF rats were markedly decreased, whereas the expressions of transforming growth factor-β l (TGF-β l), collagen type I (Col- I), metal protease-1 (TIMP-1), nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) expression in the hepatic tissue were notably down-regulated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DCP exerts effectively antagonistic activity on DMN-caused hepatotoxicity in HF rats, which the anti-fibrotic mechanisms are associated with regulating functionally serous enzymes, improving metabolic function and inhibiting inflammatory reaction in liver tissue.
authors.affiliation: Guilin Medical University, 109 Huanchengbei Road Two, Guilin 541004, China.
authors.forename: Kefeng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Guilin Medical University, 109 Huanchengbei Road Two, Guilin 541004, China.
authors.forename: Ya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Guilin Medical University, 109 Huanchengbei Road Two, Guilin 541004, China.
authors.forename: Mingli
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Guilin Medical University, 109 Huanchengbei Road Two, Guilin 541004, China.
authors.forename: Yourui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, National University of Singapore, 119074, Singapore.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Guilin Medical University, 109 Huanchengbei Road Two, Guilin 541004, China.
authors.forename: Yifei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Guilin Medical University, 109 Huanchengbei Road Two, Guilin 541004, China. Electronic address: 1069559975@qq.com.
authors.forename: Xiaoqun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: Guangxi University for Nationalities, 188 University East Road, Nanning 530001, China. Electronic address: xueshengcailiao@163.com.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D027901:Acanthaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury / Q000473:pathology; D003078:Colchicine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D004128:Dimethylnitrosamine / Q000633:toxicity*; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D009336:Necrosis; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020011:Protective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D011134:Polysaccharides; D020011:Protective Agents; D003094:Collagen; D004128:Dimethylnitrosamine; D003078:Colchicine
keywords: Dicliptera chinensis polysaccharides (DCP); Hepatic fibrosis; Inflammatory reaction; Metabolic function