Effects Of Pharmacological Serum From Normal And Liver Fibrotic Rats On Hscs

AIM: To make drug sera of Salvia miltiorrhiza and Yigankang, both of which are Chinese herbs that activate bleeding and eliminate stasis, in normal rats and those with liver fibrosis, respectively. To investigate and compare the effects of the two different drug sera on the proliferation and activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs).METHODS: Some rats were induced with liver fibrosis: 40% carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) subcutaneous injection, twice a week for 9 wk. Salvia miltiorrhiza, Yigankang, colchicines and normal saline were administered into the stomachs of normal rats and those with liver fibrosis. Drug sera were extracted 5 d later. HSCs in vitro were cultivated in different drug sera for 24 h. The rates of proliferation and expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) were detected by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and immunocytochemistry stain, respectively.RESULTS: The drug sera from normal and liver fibrotic rats could be used to cultivate HSCs and to observe the effects of the corresponding components of herbs on HSCs. Salvia miltiorrhiza and Yigankang had better inhibitory effects on HSCs than colchicines (MTT: normal drug serum: Salvia miltiorrhiza 0.42+/-0.08, Yigankang 0.32+/-0.10 vs colchicines 0.45+/-0.12 pathological drug serum: Salvia miltiorrhiza 0.33+/-0.02, Yigankang 0.26+/-0.01 vs colchicines 0.41+/-0.09. P<0.05). The drug sera of Salvia miltiorrhiza, Yigankang from liver fibrotic rats had a stronger inhibitory effect than the same ones from normal rats (MTT: Salvia miltiorrhiza: normal drug serum 0.42+/-0.08 vs pathological drug serum 0.33+/-0.02. Yigankang: normal drug serum 0.32+/-0.10 vs pathological drug serum 0.26+/-0.01. P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Salvia miltiorrhiza and Yigankang could inhibit the expression of alpha-SMA and the proliferation of HSCs. The drug sera from normal and liver fibrotic rats had different effects on HSCs, probably due to different metabolic processes, effective components and different quantities of drug contents in drug sera from rats with different states of liver. (C) 2005 The WJG Press and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.