The Effect of Chaenomelis Fructus Extract on Thioacetamide-Induced Liver Fibrosis

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Chaenomelis Fructus (CF) extract on thioacetamide (TAA)-induced liver fibrosis in mice.The mice were divided into four groups for examination: Normal group (Normal, n=9), group with liver fibrosis administered distilled water (Control, n=9), group with liver fibrosis administered silymarin 100 mg/kg (Silymarin, n=9), group with liver fibrosis administered CF 200 mg/kg (CF, n=9).Liver fibrosis was established in the mice via an injection of TAA (1 week 100 mg/kg B.W., 2∼3 weeks 200 mg/kg B.W., 4∼8 weeks 400 mg/kg B.W., three times a week, I.P) for 8 weeks and they were administered silymarin and CF extract (every day, P.O) with the TAA.After the autopsy, we analyzed the expression of inflammation-related proteins and fibrosis-related factors in the liver tissue by the western blot test.The results of the experiment showed that the administration of CF regulated the expression of phosphorylated AMPK (p-AMPK) and Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) and inhibited the expression of the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) pathway.In addition, the expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), TIMP metallopeptidase inhibitor 1 (TIMP-1), ɑ-smooth muscle actin (ɑ-SMA), and collagen Ⅰ related to fibrosis were suppressed.These results suggest that the progression of liver fibrosis may be alleviated by regulating the AMPK/SIRT1/NF-κB pathway, as well as the expression of fibrosis-related factors.