Effects of total glucosides of peony on immunological hepatic fibrosis in rats

AIM: To study the effects of total glucosides of peony (TGP) on immunological hepatic fibrosis induced by human albumin in rats. METHODS: Sixty adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into: Normal group, model group, TGP (60 and 120 mg/kg) treatment groups and colchicines (0.1 mg/kg) treatment group. On the day before the rats were killed, those in TGP or colchicine groups received TGP or colchicine as above from the first day of tail vein injection of human albumin. The rats in normal and model groups were only administered with the same volume of vehicle. At the end of the 16th wk, rats in each group were killed. Blood and tissue specimens were taken. Levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), nitric oxide (NO), content of malondialdehyde (MDA), activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-px), were measured by biochemical methods. Serum procollagen type III (PC III) and laminin (LN) were determined by radioimmunoassay. Liver collagen level was determined by measuring hydroxyproline content in fresh liver samples. Hepatic tissue sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and examined under a light microscope. RESULTS: Histological results showed that TGP improved the human albumin-induced alterations in the liver structure, alleviated lobular necrosis and significantly lowered collagen content. The antifibrotic effect of TGP was also confirmed by decreased serum content of LN and PCIII in TGP-treated group. Moreover, the treatment with TGP effectively reduced the hydroxyproline content in liver homogenates. However, the level of ALT and AST increased in fibrotic rat but had no significance compared with normal control, whereas the ratio of A/G decreased without significance. TGP had no effect on level of ALT, AST and the ratio of A/G. Furthermore, TGP treatment significantly blocked the increase in MDA and NO, associated with a partial elevation in liver total antioxidant capacity including SOD and GSH-px. CONCLUSION: TGP has beneficial effects on hepatic fibrosis in rats by inhibition of collagen synthesis and decreasing oxidative stress.