| Liver fibrosis is a shared pathology change for all chronic hepatic disease. The common pathology changes for the chronic hepatic injury caused by whatever the reasons (such as virus, alcohol, parasites, sediment of copper and iron) and the initiation process of liver fibrosis are that the increase and /or degeneration of each component of ECM, in which collagen is predominant, are relatively insufficient, meanwhile, the components deposit excessively in the liver to cause liver fibrosis. If the liver fibrosis process can't be terminated in this stage, the state of the disease will worsen and lead to reconstruction of the hepatic lobules, formation of pseudolobuli, then hepatic cirrhosis, portal hypertension and liver function failure. Hepatic cirrhosis will even directly lead to liver cancer. So we conclude that liver fibrosis is an insurmountable stage for hepatic cirrhosis. The blockage of liver fibrosis initiation and its development will pose great significance to the prevention and the treatment of hepatic cirrhosis. Hans Popper, the most renowned hepatopathy expert, once pointed out "Anyone who could prevent or slacken liver fibrosis initiation and its development will be able to cure almost all of the chronic hepatic diseases."It is thus clear that the formation and development of liver fibrosis are a rather complex process. So the research of liver fibrosis treatment has been paid great attention. Many western medicines (prostaglandin, malotilate, D- Penicillamine, colchicines) have certain therapeutic effects on liver fibrosis, however, their clinical applications are confined for the reasons of not satisfied effect as well as toxic and side effects. Thus it has become a hard problem for the world medicine society on how to prevent and treat liver fibrosis. From the point of traditional Chinese medicine, pathology of this disease is chronic damage to the liver by various effectors, such as depression of liver-QI, stasis of the blood, pathogen being excessive but vital QI weak by chronic liver disease. Recently, synthesized pharmacology treatment of liver fibrosis by TCM compounds has shown a brighter perspective and the extent of the research is enlarged. At present, the anti-fibrosis Compound 1 (composed of danshen root, curcumae, carapax amydae), which is applied by our laboratory, is mainly used to activate blood circulation to dissipate blood stasis. In the meantime, it also softens hard lumps and dispels nodes. This compound has received very satisfied effects both in animal experiments and clinical treatments. Current researches indicate that there is a significant decrease of selenium in serum and hair from the hepatic fibrosis patients, implying intimate relations between hepatic fibrosis and the lack of selenium. Selenium, being a necessary component of GSH-Px (an important antioxygen system), removes free oxygen radical. At the same time, it is also involved in the immune response of the organism. It may play an important role in antagonizing free radicals' damage to tissues and cells. So in this study, anti-hepatic fibrosis capsule combined with selenium are tested to prevent hepatic fibrosis of rats.Cytokines (CKs) were discovered in the research of infectious disease in 1950's. They are a group of hormone like proteins with autocrine, paracrine and endocrine activities. The liver acting CKs can functionally strengthen the relations between hepatocytes. Cytokines can regulate cell stimulation, internal milieu balance and tissue repair by influencing the cell growth, differentiation, receptor expression, etc. Stimulation of HSC, which is regulated by various CKs, such as TGF, TNF, IGF1, IL1, IL6, PDGF, etc plays a central role in the hepatic fibrosis initiation. The key CKs involved are mainly PDGF, IGF1, TGF β, among which IGF1 is closely associated with hepatic fibrosis. IGF1 has both promoting and countering effects on hepatic fibrosis. Our study, which based upon rat hepatic fibrosis model, observed the expression of IGF-1R in rat liver tissues by immunohistochemistry and...
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