An experimental study on the effect of capsaicin on hepatic stellate cells and liver fibrogenesis

Objective To investigate the effect of capsaicin on hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and liver fibrogenesis.Methods HSCs were cultured.The reactive oxygen in HSCs under capsaicin at different concentrations was tested by DCFH-DA kit.The proliferation of HSCs was detected by CCK-8 test kit.Smoothmuscle α-actin (α-SMA) expression of HSCs was evaluated by Western blot.The fibrosisrelated genes were tested by RT-PCR.The apoptosis of HSCs was measured by flow cytometer.Bcl-2,bax and cyt-c was detected by Western blot.A murine model of liver fibrogenes was established.Capsaicin of different concentration was injected intraperitoneally.Liver pathology was observed using HE staining.Hydroxyproline content of liver and levels of collagen Ⅲ and hyaluronic acid in serum were tested.Results In dose dependent manner capsaicin inhibited the generation of the reactive oxygen species.Proliferation and activation of HSCs was inhibited by capsaicin (respectively F =13.267,57.392,all P ＜ 0.05) and the apoptosis of HSCs was promoted by capsaicin (F =235.571,P ＜ 0.05).Bax,cyt-c and caspase-3 was increased obviously (respectively F =29.334,38.274,138.329,all P ＜ 0.05).Capsaicin changed the expression of fibrosis-related genes (TGF-β1,TIMP-1) in HSCs (respectively F =376.534,253.751,all P ＜0.05).Capsaicin downregulated the level of hydroxyproline,collagen Ⅲ and hyaluronic acid in the rat model (respectively F =153.397,27.149,38.392,all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Capsaicin inhibits the proliferation and activation of hepatic stellate cells.Capsaicin promotes the apoptosis of hepatic stellate cells,and inhibits liver fibrogenesis. Key words: Liver cirrhosis ;  Capsaicin ;  Hepatic stellate cells