Effect of Astragalosides on proliferation and collagen production of hepatic stellate cells in vitro

AIM To study the effect of astragalosides (AST) on pr ol iferation and collagen production of hepatic stellate cells (HSC). METHO DS The proliferation and collagen production of rat hepatic stellate cell s, HSC-T6, stimulated with Kupffer cell-conditioned medium (KCCM), mixed sera containing new bovine serum (NBS) and rat serum (RS) were measured with 3H -TdR and 3H-proline incorporation. RESULTS Both of the p roliferation and collagen production of HSC-T6 stimulated with KCCM at the dilu tion of 1∶4 were suppressed after being treated with AST (16, 32, 64, 128 and 2 56 mg·L -1 ). When HSC-T6 cells were stimulated with mixed sera containing 10% NBS and 3% RS, their proliferation was suppressed after being treated with AST(32, 64, 128 and 256 mg·L -1 )for 48 h and so was the collagen produ ction after being treated with AST(16, 32, 64, 128 and 256 mg·L -1 )for 72 h. CONCLUSION The suppression of hepatic stellate cell prolif eration and collagen production by astragalosides may be one of the mechanisms f or the depression of hepatic fibrosis by astragalosides.