Background/Aims: Hepatic fibrosis occurs as a result of injury to the
liver parenchyma and biliary system. We have studied the effect of the
traditional Chinese medicinal herb, Salvia miltiorrhiza? in an experi
mental model of hepatic fibrosis and evaluated its effect on various p
aradigms involved in hepatic fibrosis, Methods: Liver fibrosis was ind
uced in male Wistar rats by chronic administration of carbon tetrachlo
ride for 10 weeks. The carbon tetrachloride-treated rats mere randomly
assigned to three groups: no treatment, Salvia for 12 weeks from the
onset of carbon tetrachloride treatment, and Salvia for 2 weeks after
the completion of the 10-week course, The normal control groups in the
study were: neither carbon tetrachloride nor Salvia, and Salvia only
for 12 weeks. The livers were graded histologically and analyzed by re
verse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for the transcription of
genes involved in liver fibrosis, namely transforming growth factor-b
eta 1 and the extracellular matrix components procollagens I and III,
tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 and matrix metalloproteinase-1
3, The transcripts were normalized against that of glyceraldehyde-3-ph
osphate dehydrogenase and analyzed statistically, Results: The histolo
gical evaluation showed that Salvia could reverse the fibrosis caused
by carbon tetrachloride treatment. Rats treated with the herb had redu
ced levels of transforming growth factor-beta 1, procollagens I and II
I and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 transcripts and an incre
ased level of matrix metalloproteinase-13 transcript, when compared to
the disease control. Conclusion: Salvia miltiorrhiza, a cheap and wid
ely available herb significantly reduces carbon tetrachloride-induced
hepatic fibrosis in rats.