Protective mechanisms of medicinal plants targeting hepatic stellate cell activation and extracellular matrix deposition in liver fibrosis

Abstract

During chronic liver injury, hepatic stellate cells (HSC) are activated and proliferate, which causes excessive extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, leading to scar formation and fibrosis. Medicinal plants are gaining popularity as antifibrotic agents, and are often safe, cost-effective, and versatile. This review aims to describe the protective role and mechanisms of medicinal plants in the inhibition of HSC activation and ECM deposition during the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. A systematic literature review on the anti-fibrotic mechanisms of hepatoprotective plants was performed in PubMed, which yielded articles about twelve relevant plants. Many of these plants act via disruption of the transforming growth factor beta 1 signaling pathway, possibly through reduction in oxidative stress. This reduction could explain the inhibition of HSC activation and reduction in ECM deposition. Medicinal plants could be a source of anti-liver fibrosis compounds.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13020-014-0027-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Mechanisms of CCl₄-induced liver fibrosis with combined transcriptomic and proteomic analysis

“…When the liver is subjected to chronic injury, hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are activated and proliferate, causing ECM deposition, and hepatocytes are replaced with abundant ECM (Duval et al, 2014) which leads to scar formation and fibrosis (Roy et al, 2015), which were proved in Sirius red staining. ECM-involved signaling was also reported to be considered a paracrine/endocrine function, as it affects cell phenotype, function, fate, and finally tissue homeostasis (Karsdal et al, 2015).…”

Modeling of degradation kinetics of Salvianolic acid B at different temperatures and pH values

“…Phenolic acids extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza, such as Danshensu and Salvianolic acid B, are usually considered as quality control components of these healthy foods because they possess more activities other than antioxidant activity [1]. For example, Salvianolic acid B possesses antihypertensive effect [2], antifibrotic effect [3], and neuroprotective effect [4], and inhibition effect on HIV-1 replication [5].…”

Liver Fibrosis and Protection Mechanisms Action of Medicinal Plants Targeting Apoptosis of Hepatocytes and Hepatic Stellate Cells

“…Such targets could be relevant to reducing hepatic fibrosis. The extensive literature search made as part of this review evidenced other mechanisms besides the ones described here, by which medicinal plants reduce liver fibrosis, including previously reviewed inhibition of HSC activation and reduction of ECM deposition [ 9 ], as well as lowering of oxidative stress and suppression of inflammation and immune response.…”

“…Supported by their safety, cost-effectiveness, and versatility, medicinal plants enjoy a growing popularity as antifibrotic agents. We already reviewed how medicinal plants reduce liver fibrosis by inhibiting HSC activation and reducing ECM deposition [ 9 ]. However, other antifibrotic mechanisms could explain this activity such as modulation of apoptosis of different cell lines.…”