Anti‐fibrotic Effects of Chinese Herbal Formula ALF in Mice

Liver fibrosis is a common pathologic outcome of all chronic liver injuries which have caused about 800,000 deaths per year worldwide which lack of effective measures to treat. This project aims to investigate the efficacy of a novel anti‐liver fibrosis herbal formula ALF, which consists of aqueous extract of Schisandrae Fructus, Artemisiae Scopariae Herba, Astragali Radix and Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma in mice. To achieve the study purpose, bile duct ligation (BDL) was used to induce liver fibrosis. 60 ICR male mice were divided into 4 groups: (1)Sham group, (2)Control group (BDL), (3)Low dose ALF group (3g/kg, BDL), (4)High dose ALF group (6g/kg, BDL). At the end of experiment, blood and liver tissues were collected. When compared with the control group, High dose ALF significantly attenuated the liver enlargement and functional injury by decreasing liver weight (p<0.05), ALT(p<0.001) and total bilirubin levels (p<0.05). Sirius Red staining also demonstrated a significant reduction in fibrosis (p<0.001). Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the deposition of collagen I and III were decreased very significantly in the ALF treatment groups (p<0.001). The fibrosis related genes MMP1a and MMP2 mRNA levels were also significantly up‐regulated, while Col1a1, Col3a1 and TIMP1 mRNA levels were significantly down‐regulated by high dose ALF(p<0.05). We have presented the first evidence that aqueous extract of herbal formula ALF showed anti‐fibrotic effects in mice.