Typically chronic injury leads to hepatic fibrosis. No effective antifibrotic drugs have been approved, but herbal drugs have potential on the therapy of hepatic fibrosis. The objective of this study used TAA-induced liver fibrosis mouse as a model to elucidate whether aqueous extract of the root of Pluchea indica (PIAE) can reduce liver fibrosis triggered by TAA. Mice were intraperitoneally injected with TAA (200 mg/Kg) three times per week as the TAA group, and those of injected with PIAE once per week as the treatment group. Three PIAE dosages of low- (0.5 mg/ml), medium- (1.0 mg/ml), and high- (1.5 mg/ml) doses were applied. Control mice were intraperitoneally injected with phosphate-buffered saline (2 ml/Kg) three times per week. Mice were sacrificed after 4 or 8 week treatment. Mice serum glutamyl pyruvic transaminases (GPT) were increased in the TAA group while the treatment group effects were declined after 4 or 8 weeks. H&E, Reticular fiber, and Sirius red staining revealed that TAA induced liver fibrosis and fibrotic lesions were reduced by PIAE treatment. Hydroxyproline assay showed that TAA increased collagen contents and PIAE significantly decreased collagen contents after 4 or 8 weeks. Collagen £\1 and £\-SMA mRNA levels were decreased after 4- or 8- week PIAE treatments. The protein levels of ED2, £\-SMA, p53, and phospho-p53 were all significantly declined on 4 or 8 weeks after PIAE treatment. In conclusion, these results demonstrated that the aqueous extract of P. indica shows anti-fibrotic effects on fibrogenesis of mouse liver.

Bidens pilosa L. is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine of which was considered as a potential COX2 inhibitor and anti-inflammatory agent. The objective of this study is to discriminate the protective effect of aqueous extract of Bidens pilosa L. leaves (BPLAE) against TAA-induced live fibrosis using an animal model. The herb extracts were administrated via intraperitoneal injection once per week (1.25, 2.5 g/kg), and thioacetamide (200 mg/kg) was injected three times per week and the mice were sacrificed at week 4 and week 8, respectively. Immunohistochemistry staining, Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, Sirius red staining were carried out to evaluate the pathological alterations of mouse livers; in addition, Western blotting was performed to measure the differential expression of £\-smooth muscle actin (£\-SMA) between different treatment groups (vehicle, week 4 and week 8). Hepatic hydroxyproline was also detected in order to compare difference in collagen formation of each group. The results showed that Bidens pilosa L. effectively reduced amount of hepatic hydroxyproline and £\-SMA protein in mice with fibrotic liver induced by TAA. Moreover, in histiopathological exam, the BPLAE treated mice demonstrated a lower collagen and £\-SMA expression, which indicated that BPLAE might reduce degree and severity of liver fibrosis in mice. In conclusion, these results suggested that BPLAE potentially against fibrogenesis in TAA- induced mice liver fibrosis. Additionally, we found that BPLAE might involve in the signaling pathway of MAPK (ERK1/ERK2), which reduced the phosporylation level of p44 but not p42. Further studies using cell base assay to confirm the inhibiting role of BPLAE against cell proliferation or migration is warrant.