Objective To observe the effects of Qishu granule on PI3K/Akt signaling transduction pathways in the process of hepatic fibrosis, and further explain the anti-hepatic fibrosis mechanism of Qishu granule.Methods Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal group, model group, experimental control group and Qishu granule group. Liver fibrosis was duplicated in rats by intraperitoneal injection of CCl4, and the rats were given appropriate treatment at the same day. Rats in Qishu granule group were given a gavage 2 g/(kg?d), 1.0 mL/100 g, while rats in experimental control group and normal group were given the same amount of aquae sterilisata. Rats in each group were taken liver tissue samples in the 1st, 2nd and 4th week, and were checked for the protein expression levels of p-Akt (Ser473), p-Akt (Thr308), Bad (Ser136) and Caspase9 by Western blot.Results Compared with the model group, expression levels of p-Akt (Ser473), p-Akt (Thr308), Bad (Ser136) and Caspase9 in model and Qishu granule groups increased in every time points (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, expression level of p-Akt (Ser473) in Qishu granule group decreased significantly in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th weeks, expression level of Caspase9 dropped in the 1st and the 4th weeks, with statistical significance (P<0.05,P<0.01);expressions of p-Akt (Thr308) and Bad (Ser136) were lower than those in model group, without statistical significance (P>0.05).Conclusion Qishu granule could regulate PI3K/Akt signaling transduction pathways, and inhibit the occurrence and development of liver fibrosis.

IL-28RA is one of the important candidate genes for complex trait of genetic diseases, but there is no published information of the genetic variation in this gene. We scanned the seven exons and their boundary introns sequence of IL-28RA including the promoter regions to analyze genetic variation sites, and identified eighteen single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and two variation sites. We chose seven SNPs (g.-1193 A>C, g.-30 C>T, g.17654 C>T, g.27798 A>G, g.31265 C>T, g.31911 C>T and g.32349 G>A) of them for large sample size genotyping, and assessed the association of genotype and allele frequencies of these SNPs between allergic rhinitis patients and non-allergic rhinitis controls. We also compared the genotype frequencies between Korean controls and Han Chinese control or Korean Chinese control. We investigated the frequencies of haplotype constructed by these SNPs between allergic rhinitis patients and non-allergic rhinitis controls. Our results suggested that the g.32349 G>A polymorphism of IL-28RA might be associated with susceptibility to allergic rhinitis (P=0.032), but seems to have no relationship with serum total IgE levels. The haplotype frequencies by these SNPs also show significant association between controls and allergic rhinitis patients.
Variation (Genetics) ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal/blood/*genetics ; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial/blood/*genetics ; Receptors, Cytokine/*genetics ; Promoter Regions (Genetics)/genetics ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide/*genetics ; Male ; Immunoglobulin E/blood ; Humans ; Haplotypes ; Genotype ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease/genetics ; Gene Frequency ; Female ; Exons/genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Alleles ; Adult