| Summary: | 碩士 === 中華醫事科技大學 === 生物醫學研究所 === 100 === The hepatic fibrosis is a chronic disease caused by a variety of factors including alcohol abuse, oxidative stress, viral infection, autoimmune diseases, and metabolic diseases. The development of hepatic fibrosis is caused by liver injury, which leads to accumulation of the extracellular matrix proteins (ECM) including type I collagen and fibronectin as well as a-smooth muscle actin (a-SMA) synthesis and deposition, thus forming the fibrous scar. Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) play a key role in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. The activation of HSC leads to proliferation, expression ofa-SMA, and production of large amounts of extracellular matrix proteins. The previous studies have shown that transforming growth factor (TGF)-b is a multifunctional cytokine that plays a pro-fibrogenic role in liver fibrosis by regulating proliferation and differentiation of fibrogenic cells as well as stimulating extracellular matrix proteins. It has been known that natural products exert anti-hepatic fibrogenic activity. The traditional Chinese herb Andrographispaniculata (A.P.), a plant of Family Acanthaceae and also denoted as “Chuan-Chin-Lian”, is used to treat cold, diarrhea, fever and, especially, for liver protection. It has been known that reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a factor involved in fibrogenesis and the extract of A.P. can also prevent the liver damage from ROS. However, the functions of A.P. in liver protection are still unclear. Therefore, we proposed that it could be a candidate for anti-fibrogenesis from liver damage via decreasing ROS. To address this issue, we used a cell model for liver fibrosis, treating with TGF-bto activate hepatic stellate cells, HSC-T6 cells. We also used Western blotting, immunofluorescent staining and trichrome staining to access the protein levels of collagen, fibronectin and a-SMA and found that these proteins were induced by TGF-b. However, the expression of these proteins was decreased while co-treating with various concentrations of A.P. extract. According to these results, A.P. extract exerts ability for inhibiting HSC activation and it may be used as a drug for preventing liver fibrosis.
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