A Study of Inhibitory Effect of Tetrandrine on Experimental Hepatic Fibrosis

Objective: To study the effect of Tetrandrine on experimental hepatic fibrosis. Methods: Experimental hepatic fibrosis was induced in rats by administration of Carbon Tetrachlorid with Carapax Trionycis as control. The following parameters of hepatic fibrosis were determined. Results: The results indicated that the deposition of collagen in the liver was decreased by administration of Tetrandrine using both histological and biochemical analysis. The hepatic type I collagen content in Tetrandrine group was significantly lower as compared with control group by semiquantitative analysis using immune fluorescent assay. Both myelin figure and autophagosome were found in some cytoplasm of hepatic fibroblasts in Tetrandrine group by electronmicroscope. Conclusion: These finding suggest that Tetrandrine has inhibitory effect on hepatic fibrosis and that the mechanism of this effect may be related to the cytopathogenic action of Tetrandrine on the fibroblast.