Effects Of Melatonin On Hepatic Fibrosis In Mice With Schistosomiasis Japonicum

Melatonin(MT) is synthesized by the pineal gland of verbebrates. Recent studies show that melatonin has anti-inflammatory, immunoregulatory, and free radical scavenging effects. MT had protective effect on mice immunologic liver injury(ILI) ,which was related to direct with free radical scanvenging,increasing the content of superoxide dismutase(SOD),decreseasing the production of cytokines(CKs) and so on. MT had certain effects on the mice with hepatic fibrosis (HF). The mechanisms may be related to its immunoregulatory actions and ability of scavenging free radical. In this paper, hepatic fibrosis(HF) mice model induced by sochistosomiasis japonica was established. The effects of MT on HF mice model were studied. The main results were as follows: 1. The characters of HF mice model induced by schistosomiasis japonicumAfter the establishment of HF mice model, we found that in serum and liver homogenates, the levels of malondialdehydet(MDA) obvious increased and the activity of SOD and glutatbione peroxidase(GSHpx) significant decreased, respectively. The pathologic changes of liver include the infiltration cells such as lymphocytes, mononuclear ceils around portal area and centric veins, the injury of hepatocytes, the proliferatal collagenous fiber in portal area, a few eggs or egg granuloma were found in their sections. These evidences indicated that the hepatic cirrhosis formed already.2.Effects of MT on HF mice model induced by schistosomiasis japonicumThe results showed that MT (0.5 mg kg-1 1.0 mg kg-1) could attenuate the elevation of MDA in liver and serum, Hydroxyproline (HYP) in liver homogenates and index in liver fibrosis, reverse the decreased SOD and GSHpx levels in liver and serum. Otherwise, MT (0.5 mg 'kg-1, 1.0 mg "kg-1) could attenuate the degree of hepatic fibrosis collagenous fibrous proliferation.The results suggest that MT has certain effects on hepatic fibrosis in mice with schistosomiasis japonicum. The mechanisms may be related to ability of scavenging free radical. This work may give us a new idea on prevention and treatment for hepatic fibrosis with schistosomiasis japonicum.