Evaluate the Effect of Herbal Extract Remedy for Treatment of Liver Cirrhosis in In-Vitro

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the in-vitro effect of herbal extract recepies, namely XGTQ, in the treatment of liver cirrhosis that induced by Carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) in combination with alcohol and high-fat diet in rats. Materials and Methods: Liver cirrhosis was induced by subcutaneously injecting CC14 (initial dose of 5,0ml/kg, followed by 1,2ml/kg twice a week in 10 weeks) in winstar rats. Then, fed with synthetic food, added 20% fat, and 0.05% cholesterol and iron oxalate. Rats were administered a day with fresh water and water mixed with 30% ethanol in another day. The rats were randomly divided into 5 groups and given distilled water (group 1 or control group and group 2 or cirrhosis group), silymarin (group 3 or reference group) or the herbal recipes, aka XGTQ, drug extract (group 4, 5) for 4 weeks. Blood was collected for biochemical test and livers were dissected to evaluate weight, morphology and quantified 4-hydroxyproline to evaluate fibrosis and collagen accumulation. Results: In cirrhotic wistar rats, the XGTQ herbal drug at 19.6 g/kg/24h and 58.8 g/kg/24h showed the ability of reducing the level of enzymes AST, ALT in the blood (p<0.01), increasing plasma albumin and decreasing prothrobin time (p<0.05); improving physical condition, macroscopic and microscopic images of H&E-stained liver; decreasing the concentration of hydroxyproline in the liver and reducing the level of cirrhosis on the masson-stained templates. The effect of herbal recipes XGTQ increased dramatically with the dose, and was equivalent to silymarin at the dose of 70 mg/kg/24h. Conclusion: The aqueous extract of XGTQ herbal remedy has have a good effect in treatment of liver cirrhosis in in-vitro and to be equivalent to that of silymarin at the dose of 70 mg/kg. Key words: XGTQ herbal extract, Liver cirrhosis, Wistar rats, CCl4, Silymarin