The Chinese Herbal Decoction Danggui Buxue Tang Inhibits Angiogenesis in a Rat Model of Liver Fibrosis

الملخص EN

In this study, we investigated the anti-angiogenic effect of the Chinese herbal decoction Danggui BuxueTang (DBT; Radix Astragali and Radix Angelicae sinensis in 5 : 1 ratio) in a rat model of liver fibrosis, inorder to elucidate its mechanisms of action against liver fibrosis.

Liver fibrosis was induced with CCl4 andhigh-fat food for 6 weeks, and the rats were treated with oral doses of DBT (6 g raw herbs/kg/d) and N-Acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC; 0.1 g/kg/d).

The results showed that both DBT and NAC attenuated liver fibrosis and neo-angiogenesis.

Furthermore, DBT and NAC improved SOD activity but decreased MDA content and 8-OH-dG in fibrotic livers, with DBT being more effective than NAC.

DBT decreased theexpression of VEGF, Ang1 and TGF-β1 and their signaling mediators, whereas NAC had no effect on VEGFand VEGFR2 expression.

Both DBT and NAC reduced HIF-1α gene and protein expression in fibrotic livers,with DBT being more effective.

These data clearly demonstrate that the anti-fibrotic properties of DBT arerelated to its ability to inhibit angiogenesis and its anti-angiogenic mechanisms are associated withimproving oxidative stress, regulating the expression and signaling of angiogenic factors, and especiallymodulating HIF-1α in fibrotic livers.