[The anti-portal hypertension effect of oleanolic acid in CCl4-induced cirrhosis rats].

OBJECTIVE

To study the anti-portal hypertension effect of oleanolic acid (OA) in CCl4-induced cirrhosis rats and its mechanism.

METHODS

Rats were induced to portal hypertension by CCl4. After treatment with low dose of OA (30 mg/kg) and high dose of OA (60 mg/kg) by intragastrically for a month, the parameters in serum or liver tissue including ALT, AST, MDA, GSH-Px, NOx, eNOS, cGMP and type I collagen were measured. The MAP, PP and HR were determined by hameodynamic method and the eNOS expression in liver was measured by western blot. The pathological changes of liver tissue were also tested by Masson dye. The normal group and model group were given 0.25% of CMC-Na solution.

RESULTS

Compared with the model group, treatment with 30 mg/kg and 60 mg/kg OA significantly decreased the levels of ALT, AST, ALP, gamma-GT and MDA and enhanced the level of GSH-Px in liver (P<0.05). Moreover, the collagen content also notably lowered in CCl4-induced cirrhosis rats, thus decreasing the portal pressure (PP). However, the MAP and HR were not affected by OA treatment. In addition, the expression of eNOS in liver markedly increased after one mouth treatment of OA, hereof enhancing the level of cGMP and NOx in the CCl4-induced portal hypertensive rats (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

OA could inhibit the progress of fibrosis and lower the PP in CCl4-induced portal hypertensive rats and the anti-portal hypertension effect might be related to increasing the expression of eNOS and enhance the NOx level in liver.