In China, the incidence of liver cirrhosis is still high, although new therapeutic approaches have recently been proposed, there is no established therapy for liver fibrosis, and Authors investigated the prevention effects of Chinese Medicine Qianggan-Rongxian Soup on liver fibrosis induced by DMN in rat. Chinese Medicin Qianggan-Rongxian decoction can inhibit hepatic fibrosis resulted from chronic liver injure, retard the development of cirrhosis, and notably ameliorate the liver function. It may be a safe and effective therapeutic drug for patients with fibrosis.
A research article to be published on 14 June 2008, in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team led by Chun-Hui Li from affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medicine College studied the inhibitory effect of Huangqi Zhechong decoction on liver fibrosis in rat.
Qianggan-Rongxian decoction, especially the medium-dose administration could decrease the area-density percentage of collagen fibrosis. HA, LN, and type IV collagen are good serum markers of hepatic fibrosis. In this study, the serum contents of these 3 markers in the model group were much higher than those of the controls. And the Qianggan-Rongxian decoction groups had significantly low HA, LN, and type IV collagen levels in serum than those in the controls, ALT and AST are indexes to describe liver functions. Most part of ALT is presented in the cytoplasm of liver cell, discharged in blood when degeneration, hyper permeability and necrosis of liver cells occur. So the increase of ALT level in serum reflects the degree of liver cell injury. Our study showed that the Qianggan-Rongxian decoction could decrease serum levels of ALT and AST in rats with hepatic injury caused by DMN. It indicates that Qianggan-Rongxian decoction may work through protecting the liver cells, which indicated that Qianggan-Rongxian decoction could successfully prevent hepatic fibrosis.
The mechanism of DMN-induced liver fibrosis has been shown to be associated with immune function, which is similar to the mechanism of human liver fibrosis. Thus, DMN-induced rat liver fibrosis may be a useful model for determination of liver fibrosis during drug screenin. The mechanism of the Qianggan-Rongxian decoction may need further research.
This study may provide a safe and effective strategy for inhibition of cirrhosis in clinic use.