Effects of curcumin on expression of TGF-β1 and Caspase-3 in hepatic fibrotic rats induced by Carbon Tetrachoride

AIM: To investigate the effects of curcumin on expression of TGF-β1 and Caspase-3 in the fibrotic liver induced by Carbon Tetrachoride in rats.METHODS: The liver fibrosis models induced by CCl4 were established in rats and they were treated with curcumin.Liver fibrosis grades were evaluated on the liver tissue sections and biochemical examinations were performed.Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expression of transforming growth factor β1(TGF-β1) and Caspase-3 and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) was performed to detect mRNA expression of TGF-β1.RESULTS: The grade of liver fibrosis in curcumin group was obviously lower compared with that in model group(P0.01).Compared with those in model control group,the serum ALT,AST and ALP levels were depressed in curcumin group(757.15±233.88 vs 1676.50±252.38,2775.56±237.88 vs 4865.14±402.91,1850.37±190.87 vs 4310.03±727.81,P0.05 or P0.01),while the values of A/G were enhanced(0.89±8.06 vs 0.60±7.48,P0.05).Compared with those in model control group,the expressions of TGF-β1 protein and TGF-β1 mRNA in liver were significantly reduced in curcumin group(3.13±1.55 vs 9.56±2.01,0.32±0.12 vs 0.87±0.40 P0.05 or P0.01),while the expression of Caspase-3 in liver was significantly enhanced(5.47±1.06 vs 1.56±0.61,P0.05).CONCLUSION: Curcumin has obvious therapeutic effects on the experimental liver fibrosis induced by Carbon Tetrachoride in rats.The mechanism possibly involves the inhibition of TGF-β1 and enhanced expression of Caspase-3.