Prevention and Therapeutic Effects of Fuzheng Huayu Capsule on Liver Fibrosis and Expression of Connective Tissue Growth Factor in Rats

Objective To investigate the prevention and therapeutic effects of Fuzheng Huayu Capsule on liver fibrosis in rats and its possible mechanism by regulating the expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF).Methods Forty Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: the normal group, the preventive group (the preventive experimental group and the preventive control group) and the treatment group (the treatment experimental group and the treatment control group). All the rats, except those in the normal group, were given CCl4 by subcutaneous injection and alcohol by oral adminstration to establish the model of liver fibrosis; meanwhile the rats in normal group were given same amount of olive oil by subcutaneous injection and water by oral administration. The preventive experimental group and control group were treated with Fuzheng Huayu crude drug 0.46 g/kg body mass through stomach irrigation and saline respectively once a day for four weeks during the modeling process. The treatment experimental group and control group were treated with Fuzheng Huayu crude drug 0.46 g/kg body mass through stomach irrigation and saline respectively once a day for four weeks after the modeling process. Blood was collected for the examination of liver function and serum fibrosis marker. HE staining was used to examine the pathological changes in liver tissue. The expression of CTGF was detected by immunohistochemistry. Results Compared with the preventive experimentalgroup, total bilirubin（TB）, alanine aminotransferase（ALT）and hyaluronic acid（HA）in the preventive control group decreased significantly ( P<0.05). Compared with the treatment control group, ALT and laminin（LN in the treatment experimental group decreased significantly ( P<0.01). Compared with the treatment comtrol group, the inflammation and hepatic fibrosis in the treatment experimental group alleviated significantly. The expression of CTGF in the treatment experimental group were significantly lower than that in the treatment control group ( P<0.05). Conclusion Fuzheng Huayu Capsule showed the prevention and therapeutic effects on experimental liver fibrosis. Meanwhile, Fuzheng Huayu Capsule could inhibit the CTGF expression in liver tissue, which may be one of the molecular mechanisms of these effects.