Objective: To investigate the mechanism of Rabdosia ternifolia on hepatic fibrosis in rats. Method: Rat hepatic fibrosis model was produced by back subcutaneous injection of 40% carbon tetrachloride(CCl4) peanut oil

once every three days

for eight consecutive weeks

at the same time the rats were given R. ternifolia extract at 20

40

80 g·kg-1 with gavage. Take blood After 8 weeks of administration

serum were collect

and the ELISA method was used for the determination of serum proeollagen type Ⅲ (PCIII)

hyaluronic acid (HA)

tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1)

matrix metal oproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and liver transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) concentration. The liver collagen fiber formation was observed by Masson staining. Result: Serum HA

PCIII

TGF-β1 and TIMP-1 concentration were significantly raised in model group rats than normal group rats (P<0.01)

while MMP-2 was significantly decreased (P<0.01). R. ternifolia at high

medium dosage significantly reduced the content of HA

PCIII

TIMP-1

as well as increased the content of MMP-2 in serum (P<0.01); and the extract significantly reduced TGF-β1 level in liver (P<0.01). The R. ternifolia at low dosage significantly reduces the levels of serum HA

PCIII content (P<0.05); it also demonstrated a trend of decreasing serum TIMP-1 and liver TGF-β1 content

increasing of the content of MMP-2

but the difference with the model group is not significant. Conclusion: R. ternifolia effectively alleviated the degree of the chronic liver injury in liver fibrosis rat

the mechanism may be related to the regulation of TGF-β1 level and the controlling of the release of the TIMP-1 and MMP-2 in hepatic stellate cells.