Chrysanthemum indicum ethanol extract attenuates hepatic stellate cell activation in vitro and thioacetamide-induced hepatofibrosis in rats

Objective:To investigate the antifibrotic effects of Chrysanthemum indicum ethanol extract(CIEE)against activated hepatic stellate cells(HSC)and thioacetamide(TAA)-induced hepatofibrosis in rats.Methods:Cell viability and proliferation of HSC-T6 cells were measured using MTT assay.Primary HSCs were used to study morphology.TAA(200 mg/kg)was used to induced hepatic fibrosis in rats.CIEE(100 and 500 mg/kg)and silymarin(50 mg/kg)were administered orally.Liver functions including alanine transaminase,aspartate transaminase,glutathione,and hydroxyproline levels were measured using commercial kits.Liver sections and fibrotic biomarker expression were measured using hematoxylin and eosin staining and real-time polymerase chain reaction.Results:In vitro study revealed that CIEE(0.1,0.25,and 0.5 mg/mL)inhibited the proliferation of activated HSCs exposed to transforming growth factor(TGF)-β and restored the activated primary HSC morphology.In in vivo studies,TAA-induced increase in liver/body weight ratio(5.46±0.26)was significantly reduced(4.13±0.22)by CIEE(P<0.05 at 500 mg/kg).CIEE(100 and 500 mg/kg)improved the liver functions by significantly attenuating changes in alanine transaminase,aspartate transaminase,glutathione,and hydroxyproline levels(P<0.05).Further,CIEE(100 and 500 mg/kg)ameliorated the histological changes in liver tissue and TGF-β expression significantly(P<0.05)in TAA-induced rats.Conclusions:CIEE significantly protects against TAA-induced liver damage in rats and can be used in the treatment of liver fibrosis.