Effects Of Tetrandrine, Propranolol And Their Combination In Rats With Portal Hypertension

Objects:To evaluate the effects of tetrandrine and propranolol,alone or in combination, in rats with portal hypertension.Methods:Portal hypertension was induced by compound factors in Wister rats which were divided into four groups randomly: tetrandrine group,propranlol group, combination group and control group. Tetrandrine(30mg/kg) ,propranlol(45mg/kg) , their combination and water were administered by gavage for consecutive fifteen days.Then portal venous pressure ( PVP),heart rate(HR) ,blood pressure (to compute mean arterial pressure, MAP) and ALT,TBIL,ALB,HA,PCⅢcontents in serum were detected,the morphologic changes of liver were observed by HE staining andα-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA) immunohisto- chemistry staining.Results:PVP andα-SMA expression were significantly lower in three pharmacologic therapy groups than those in control group(P<0.05),HR were significantly lower in propranlol group and combination group than those in control group(P<0.05);MAP change in propranlol group and combination group had no difference with control group(P>0.05); MAP increased in tetrandrine group as compared with control group(P<0.05) and had no significant differences with normal group(P>0.05). ALT,TBIL,HA decreased remarkably in tetrandrine group compared with control group(P<0.05);while content changes of ALB,PCⅢhad no difference with control group; content changes of ALT,TBIL,ALB,HA,PCⅢin serum showed no significant differences among propranolol group,combination group and control group.Conclusions: Tetrandrine,propranlol and the combined therapy can effectively decrease portal hypertension,but the combined therapy had no further effect than using them alone.Tetrandrine can improve haemodynamic situation in portal hypertension and decreaseα-SMA expression in liver, improve part of liver function and fibrotic indexes .