Effects of Curcumin on the Expression of Cytokines in Livers of Rats with Fibrosis

Objective To observe the effects of curcumin on mRNA expression of matrix metal proteinase-13(MMP-13) and the tissue inhibitor of metal proteinase-1(TIMP-1) in hepatic tissues of experimental rats. Methods 22 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups : normal group(n=7),model group(n=6) and treatment group(n=9).Hepatic fibrosis was induced by CCl4 in rats,which were treated with treatment after 6 weeks in the treatment group.All rats were sacrificed by the end of the 10th week,when HE staining of hepatic tissue was performed and the semi-quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) was used to assay mRNA expression of MMP-13 and TIMP-1. Results HE staining in the treatment group was significantly different from the model group(P0.05);the mRNA expression of MMP-13 among each group was not remarkable different(P0.05),but not for the mRNA expression of TIMP-1(P0.05),Comparing to the normal group;TIMP-1mRNA in the model group and treatment group were obviously elevated(P0.05),compared with the model group,while TIMP-1mRNA of the treatment group was reduced(P0.05). Conclusion Curcumin reverses liver fibrosis,the mechanism of which associated to reducing the mRNA expression of TIMP-1,restoring the liver collagen degeneration system gradually.