Great progress has been made in the study of fatty liver with integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine in aspects of diagnosis, treatment and experimental study, etc. Most researches were designed to utilize diagnostic or model replicating method of western medicine to observe the effects or investigate the action mechanism of compound recipe, single Chinese herb or effective ingredients of Chinese herbs on fatty liver. According to the pathological mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), fatty liver is characterized by deficiency in nature and repletion in appearance, which involves three Zang viscera such as liver, spleen and kidney and manifests as spleen Qi deficiency, liver and kidney deficiency, phlegm and dampness heaping internally, and Qi stagnation and blood stasis. This facilitates us to use specific recipe or modified recipe to treat fatty liver from the points of integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine and combining syndrome differentiation with disease differentiation. With gratifying achievement, this kind of approach has been the mainstream of the research on fatty liver and many researchers have reached an agreement on this point domestically. Spleen Fortifying and Blood Invigorating Recipe (SFBVER in brief, invented by our institute) can significantly improve the B ultrasound outcome of the liver in patients with fatty liver, with significant difference in B ultrasound scoring between pre-and post-treatment. It can alleviate the patients' symptoms, improve or regain liver function, decrease waist/buttocks ratio and the content of triglyceride and cholesterol in blood. SFBVER is superior to Dongbao Gantai Recipe in general effective rate. Experimental study also reveals that SFBVER can alleviate CCl(4) induced liver cell fatty degeneration and the inflammatory cell infiltration in rats, decrease the activities of ALT and AST, lower the content of triglyceride in liver, recover SOD activity in liver to normal level. The overall efficacy of SFBVER is superior to that of Dongbao Gantai Recipe. Further correlated study should be focused on inventing new preparation of traditional Chinese medicine and investigating its action mechanism with the guiding of the theory of TCM and referring to the latest discovery in fatty liver research in modern medicine.

The compound of active ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM),whose material base is relatively clear,adheres to the concept and advantages of formula compatibility of TCM.Thus,it is an important approach to modern TCMresearch.The significance of research on compound of TCMcomponents/ingredients,as well as the research ideas,is sketched out,and the current research on compound of TCMcomponents for the prevention and treatment of liver diseases is reviewed.The research strategies for TCMcomposition/compound for the prevention and treatment of liver diseases are elucidated from the following two aspects:exploring the compound of TCM components based on clinical TCM compound and studying the composition aiming at the effective components or ingredients of TCM that have been known;it is pointed out that the compatibility of effective TCM components,which provides the method and technology system for innovative drug research,is an innovative research model for inheriting and developing the TCMtheory and is one of the important approaches to modern TCM research.

This article was aimed to expound current complexity and diversity about Chinese medicine dose-ef-fect relationship . It demonstrated that the study on Chinese medicine dose-effect relationship should be based on clinical effect as its foundation , and be guided by the traditional Chinese medicine ( TCM ) theories . Differ-ent modern science and technology means and methods should be applied for the multi-perspective , multi-lev-el and multidisciplinary systematic study of the Chinese medicine dose-effect relationship .

Systems biology, which includes genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics, is an integration of system theory and biology. It studies the life phenomena with thinking method of systems theory. And it provides an important methodological basis and technical conditions for recognizing syndrome of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and mechanism of therapeutic effect from multiple disciplines and perspectives. Systems biology is similar to the core idea of TCM system and holism concept. Therefore, systems biology can be used as a platform and pivot of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in modern TCM study. Systems biology will accelerate the modernization research of TCM in the prevention and treatment of NAFLD. It will also provide new ideas and methods for TCM study on NAFLD.

OBJECTIVE: To study the therapeutic mechanism of salvianolic acid B (SA-B) in treating hepatic fibrosis. METHODS: Twenty-four Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: normal control group, untreated group and SA-B-treated group. Rats in the untreated and SA-B-treated groups were injected intraperitoneally with 0.5% dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) for 4 weeks, daily for 3 days each week at a dose of 10 microg/kg, to induce hepatic fibrosis. Then, rats in the SA-B-treated group were given SA-B orally for another 4 weeks. Hydroxyproline (Hyp) contents in liver tissue of the rats in 3 groups were determined with HCl hydrolysis, and collagen type I, transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta1), transforming growth factor-beta receptor type I (TbetaRI) and transforming growth factor-beta receptor type II (TbetaRII) were detected by Western blotting. RESULTS: The Hyp content and the expressions of collagen type I, TGF-beta1, TbetaRI and TbetaRII in the liver tissue of rats in the untreated group increased significantly as compared with those in the normal control group, while those in SA-B-treated group decreased significantly as compared with those in the untreated group. CONCLUSION: The therapeutic mechanism of SA-B in treating hepatic fibrosis may be related to inhibiting the expressions of TGF-beta1 and its receptors.

Gut microecology plays an important role in the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. With reference to the research on traditional Chinese medicine in regulating gut microecology and treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, this article systematically elaborates on the association of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease with intestinal flora, gut bacterial metabolites, and gut barrier function and points out that the regulation of gut microecology and the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis are important measures for traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

AIM: To investigate the effect of diammonium gycyrrhizinate (Ganlixin) against liver fibrosis through preventing lipid peroxidation and regulating interstitial collagenase activity. METHODS: The liver fibrotic model was induced through subcutaneous injection of CCl_4 and the feeding with high fat and low protein in rats. Diammonium gycyrrhizinate was administered (70 mg/kg rat BW). Hepatic inflammation and collagen were observed with H-E and Sirius red staining. The liver function including serum ALT, AST activity, Alb and total bilirubin levels were determined. The hepatic lipid peroxidation including SOD and GSH-Px activities, MDA and GSH content were also measured. Hepatic hydroxyproline (Hyp) content was detected with Jamall's method. The activity of interstitial collagenase in liver was assayed by the reaction with [3H] labeled type I collagen, and the gene expression of ?1(Ⅰ) pro-collagen was analyzed by RT-PCR. RESULTS: The model rats had remarkable inflammatory necrosis, collagen accumulation and fibrosis at liver, while the diammonium gycyrrhizinate treated group showed slighter hepatic injury and collagen deposition, and the much better liver function than the model. The diammonium gycyrrhizinate-treated group had lower levels of hepatic MDA, Hyp and ?1 (Ⅰ) pro-collagen mRNA expression than those in the model group, but had higher levels of interstitial collagenase activity, GSH content, SOD and GSH-Px activity than those in the model group. CONCLUSION: Diammonium gycyrrhizinate has a good effect against liver fibrosis, which may be related to the prevention from lipid peroxidation and improvement of interstitial collagenase activity in fibrotic livers.

Objective To investigate the effect of ketamine on depression-like behaviors at different developmental stages of offspring rat exposed to prenatal restraint stress (PRS).MethodsPregnant SD rats were randomly divided into control group (n=6) and PRS group (n=8).The dams of PRS group received three times(45 minutes/time)restraint stress every day.The anxiety-like and depression-like behaviors of the offsprings of the two groups were tested in the stage of juvenile,adolescence and early adulthood.Then the antidepressant effect of ketamine on prenatal stress rats at different developmental stages was observed.ResultsIn the open-field test,the time in the central area of the offspring rats in PRS group at different developmental stages (juvenile(2.50±0.43)s,adolescence(9.17±1.05)s,early adulthood(8.33±0.92)s) were significantly lower than those of the control group((8.33±1.05)s,(19.17±1.06)s,(18.83±1.30)s,all P<0.05).In the forced swimming test,the immobility time in the offspring rats of PRS group at the different developmental stages (juvenile(192.50±10.82)s,adolescence(182.75±10.12)s,early adulthood(199.88±9.20) s)were significantly higher than those of control group((76.00±19.00)s,(96.30±12.91)s,(108.30±10.98)s,all P<0.05).Ketamine could quickly and strongly reduce the immobility time of the offsprings exposed to PRS in the stage of adolescence and early adulthood (P<0.01),but the effect was weaker in the juvenile offsprings (P<0.05).ConclusionPRS leads to persistent anxiety-like and depression-like behavior in offsprings and ketamine exerts a good antidepressant effect on the offspring rats in the stage of adolescence and early adulthood.

Objective: To investigate the effects of Yiguanjian Decoction, a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine, on collagen metabolism of hepatic tissues in rats with carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4))-induced liver fibrosis. Methods: Liver fibrosis was induced in rats by intraperitoneal injection of 50% CCl(4)-olive oil solution at a dose of 1 mL/kg body weight, twice per week for 9 consecutive weeks. Six rats were sacrificed for dynamic observation at the end of the 3rd and 6th week respectively, and the other rats were divided into 9-week untreated group and Yiguanjian Decoction group which was given Yiguanjian Decoction intragastrically in the subsequent 3-week modeling period. Another 6 rats were used as normal group. Rats in the normal group and 9-week untreated group were treated with distilled water. At the end of the 9th week, all rats were sacrificed, and their blood serum and liver tissue were collected for measuring hepatic histology and expressions of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1, TIMP-2, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-13, MMP-14, collagen type I (Col I), and activities of MMP-2 and -9. Results: Compared with the normal group, collagen fiber deposition, expressions of α-SMA, Col I, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, MMP-13 and MMP-14 and activities of MMP-2 and -9 in the liver tissues gradually increased in the untreated group (P<0.05, P<0.01). These changes were significantly suppressed by Yiguanjian Decoction. Conclusion: Yiguanjian Decoction exerts inhibition on formation of CCl(4)-induced cirrhosis in rats. The therapeutic mechanism may be related to inhibiting hepatic stellate cell activation, collagen secretion, and promoting collagen fiber degradation.