OBJECTIVELay on the intervention effect of different classic Chinese medicine recipes for clearing-heat, eliminating dampness and nourishing Gan-Shen, to investigate the recipe-syndrome pathologic foundation of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) induced liver cirrhosis in rat.

METHODSLiver cirrhosis model rats were made by DMN intra-peritoneally injection for 4 weeks at the dosage of 10 mg/kg body weight, once per day for 3 consecutive days in each week. Excepting the 6 rats for pre-treatment observation, others were divided into 3 groups and gastric infused respectively with saline (model group), Yinchenhao Decoction (YCHD group) and Yiguanjian (YGJ group) in the continuous 2-week modeling period. Besides, a normal group was set up with 10 healthy rats administered by saline. At the end of the 4th week, rats were sacrificed and their blood sample and liver tissue were get for detecting liver function; hepatic histology (HE and Sirus red stain); alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) and hydroxyproline (Hyp) contents, Oxidative stress-related parameters such as malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), and glutathione S-transferase (GST); expressions of alpha-SMA tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), platelete-derived growth factor (PDGF), liver fatty acid binding protein (L-FABP), and transferrin were determined at the same time.

RESULTSCompared to those in the model group, liver function was improved significantly and content of Hyp, alpha-SMA protein expression decreased remarkably in the YCHD group (P < 0.05), showing significant inhibition on liver cirrhosis formation; while those effect was not shown in the YGJ group. Comparisons of various parameters between groups showed that TNF-alpha, PDGF expression, MDA content and GST activity in liver tissue were decreased and GSH content, L-FABP and transferrin expression were increased significantly at the terminal of the experiment in the YCHD group (P < 0.05), but only increases of TNF-alpha and GSH were shown in the YGJ group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONYCHD exerts significant inhibition on DMN-induced cirrhosis formation in rats, and the inflammatory change and peroxidation in liver tissue at liver cirrhosis developing stage of DMN treated rats is the recipe-syndrome pathologic foundation of clearing heat and eliminating-dampness effects of YCHD.