The hepatoprotective and antifibrotic effects of Saururus chinensis against carbon tetrachloride induced hepatic fibrosis in rats

Ethnopharmacological relevanceSaururus chinensis (Lour.) Baill (Saururaceae) has been used in Chinese folk medicine for treatment of various diseases, such as edema, jaundice, gonorrhea, antipyretic, diuretic, and antiinflammatory agents.Aim of the studyOur aim was to evaluate the hepatoprotective and antifibrotic effects of Saururus chinensis extract (SC-E) in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced liver fibrosis rats.Materials and methodsThe SC-E (70 mg/kg) was administrated via gavage once a day starting from the onset of CCl4 treatment (14 weeks) for subsequent 8 weeks. Evaluated with liver index, serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), hyaluronic acid (HA), hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), total lipoprotein (TP), albumin (ALB), hydroxyproline (HYP), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), laminin (LN), type III collagen terminal peptide (PC-IIINP), and type IV collagen (IV-C), as well as with histopathologic changes of liver.ResultsSC-E effectively reduced the elevated levels of liver index, serum ALT, AST, HA, and hepatic MDA contents, enhance the reduced hepatic SOD activity in CCl4-treated rats. The histopathological analysis suggested that SC-E obviously alleviated the degree of liver fibrosis induced by CCl4.ConclusionsThose results suggest SC-E has protective and therapeutic effects on liver fibrosis induced by CCl4.