麻黃과 Silymarin의 병용이 TGF-β/Smad 경로 억제를 통한 간섬유화 억제효능 = Combination of EHE and Silymarin ameliorates liver fibrosis by inhibiting TGF-β/Smad pathway in LX-2 cells

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Objectives : Ephedrae Herba has been used in the East Asian traditional medicine, for treatment of asthma, cold and influenza. Silymarin is an effective antioxidant and its anti-fibrogenic, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective properties have been reported. This study was performed to explore an anti-fibrogenic potential of Ephedrae Herba extract (EHE) + silymarin on immortalized human hepatic stellate cell line, LX-2 cells.
Methods : We studied the anti-fibrogenic effects of EHE + silymarin on transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) signaling pathway in LX-2 cells. Cell viability was measured using the MTT assay. mRNA levels were detected by real-time PCR. TGF-β1 signaling-related proteins expression were detected by Western blot.
Results : Silymarin 30 μg/mL and EHE 100 μg/mL showed cytotoxicity on LX-2 cells. Therefore, the concentrations of silymarin and EHE were studied at 10 μg/mL, respectively. Silymarin significantly reduced PAI-1 protein expression, Smad binding element (SBE) luciferase activity, and mRNA (PAI-1, MMP2 and 9 ) expression compared to TGF-β1. EHE significantly reduced SBE luciferase activity and mRNA (PAI-1, MMP2 and 9) expression compared to TGF-β1. More importantly, EHE + silymarin significantly reduced all parameters compared to TGF-β1, and also significantly reduced compared to EHE alone and silymarin alone.
Conclusion : The results indicate that EHE + silymarin has anti-fibrogenic effect in LX-2 cells induced by TGF-β1 Additionally, EHE + silymarin shows more effective anti-fibrogenic effect than EHE alone and silymarin alone.