Nattokinase as a functional food ingredient:therapeutic applications and mechanisms in age-related diseases

Consumption of natto,a traditional eastern Asian food made of fermented soybeans by Bacillus subtilis,has long been linked to healthy aging and longer human lifespan.As the key thrombolytic ingredient of natto,the serine protease nattokinase(NK)has been developed into a widely-used dietary supplement.NK has shown excellent anti-thrombus,thrombolytic,and anti-inflammation activities that potentially delay aging and provide therapeutic effects on aging-related diseases.In this review,we critically overview the experimental and clinical evidence in the past 20 years that support the beneficial function of NK in the prevention and treatment of aging-related diseases,including cardiovascular diseases,Alzheimer’s disease,other abnormalities and cancer.We focus on the underlying molecular mechanisms and recent advances in application methods that are aimed at further development of NK for healthier aging of modern society.The challenges and unsolved issues in this area are also discussed.

An overview of potential cardioprotective benefits of xanthophylls in atherosclerosis:an evidence-based review

Atherosclerosis,as the most prevalent form of cardiovascular disease,is characterized by oxidized lowdensity lipoprotein(ox-LDL)accumulation in the vascular wall,increased inflammation of the large arteries,dysfunction of the endothelial cells(ECs)and vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs),which may eventually lead to the formation of plaques.Xanthophylls,one of the main groups of carotenoids,have been proposed as preventive agents or adjunct therapies to prevent and slow the progression of atherosclerosis due to their cardioprotective properties.However,the underlying preventive mechanism of action of xanthophylls on the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis remains unclear,and clinical evidence of the effect of xanthophylls on atherosclerosis have not yet been summarized and critically reviewed.In this regard,we conducted a comprehensive literature search in four scientific databases(Pub Med,Google Scholar,Science Direct and Web of Science)and carefully analyzed the existing evidence to provide meaningful insights on the association between xanthophylls and atherosclerosis from various aspects.Based on the evidence from in vitro and in vivo studies,we explored several potential mechanisms,including antioxidant effect,anti-inflammatory effect,regulation of lipid metabolism,and modulation of ECs and VSMCs dysfunction,and we found that a clear picture of regulatory pathways of xanthophylls on atherosclerosis prevention and treatment is still lacking.In addition,epidemiological studies suggested the possible relationship among high dietary intake of xanthophylls,high plasma/serum xanthophylls and a reduced risk of atherosclerosis.Direct evidence from interventional studies investigating the effect of xanthophylls on atherosclerosis is very sparse,whilst indirect clinical evidence was only limited to astaxanthin and lutein.Therefore,well-designed long-term randomized controlled trials(RCTs)are highly recommended for future studies to investigate the effective dose of different xanthophylls on atherosclerosis prevention and their possible ancillary effect in conjunction with drug therapies on different stages of atherosclerosis.

Influence of Production Factors on the Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Fermented Cassava Dough and Sensory Evaluation of Attieke

Attieke is an Ivorian semolina which obtained by fermenting, pressing and steaming cassava dough. Attieke production remains a traditional activity carried out by less literate women. However, perceived differences in measurable factors and attieke qualities require an investigation of their influence on the characteristics of the pressed dough and attieke. The aim of this study is to improve the quality of the dough in relation to that of the attieke produced. The experiment was carried out on 4 production factors, namely the type of boiled or braised ferment, the incorporation rate of the ferment between 8 and 10%, the addition of oil from 0.1 to 1% and the fermentation time from 12 to 15 hours applied to the Improved African Cassava (IAC) variety. A complete experiment design of 16 samples of fermented dough and attieke was employed. These samples underwent physic-chemical analyses for the fermented dough and sensory evaluation for the attieke. It was found that, except for titratable acidity, reducing sugar content and ash content, the physico-chemical characteristics of the dough of IAC variety were significantly influenced by all production factors and their interaction. Fermentation time significantly influences 60% of the physico-chemical characteristics of the fermented dough. The type of ferment, the oil addition and the ferment rate have a significant influence at 40% of these characteristics. At the sensory level, color, acidity and grain binding with an explained variance of 34.60% were essential for the appreciation of the attieke samples. Thus, these production factors could be considered for the improvement of the fermented dough and attieke production process.

The impact of short-term changes in sleeping and eating patterns on glucometabolic health and gut microbiota in healthy young adults: a proof-of-concept controlled feeding study

Epidemiological studies showed that night workers are at higher risk of developing chronic metabolic diseases.However,no study has investigated the changes in circadian rhythms caused by a combined effect of sleep and diet in a real-life setting on cardiometabolic health,gut microbiota,and psychological status in healthy people.A 4-week step-wise misaligned-realigned controlled-feeding trial with a 2×2 factorial design(sleep and diet)was conducted on healthy young adults.At first,subjects experienced a one-week circadian rhythm misalignment with a high-fat fast-food diet,extended eating window,and delayed sleep schedules,then gradually transited to a complete circadian rhythm realignment with a high-fiber balanced diet,8-h timerestricted eating,and normal sleep schedules.Circadian rhythm misalignment led to significantly higher levels of fasting glucose and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance(HOMA-IR)of subjects compared to baseline and failed to recover to the baseline level in circadian rhythm realignments.Notably,the incremental area under the curve(iAUC)of postprandial glucose decreased with circadian rhythm adjustments as compared to that in circadian rhythm misalignment,suggesting circadian rhythm realignment by sleep or/and diet could partly restore glucose metabolism impaired by a short-term circadian rhythm misalignment.However,circadian rhythm changes did not result in overall perturbations of gut microbiota diversities.

Health-promoting microbes in traditional Vietnamese fermented foods:A review

Vietnam has a long history of numerous traditional fermented products that contain a range of microorganisms with favorable technological,preservative,and organoleptic properties for food processing as well as other functional properties.This review emphasizes the most common traditional Vietnamese fermented foods and their beneficial indigenous bacteria having health-promoting effects.

Quality and origin of mountain food products: the new European label as a strategy for sustainable development

Mountain farming provides high-quality food products due to the peculiar characteristics of the raw materials combined with traditional processing conditions. However, these products and their intrinsic characteristics are not clearly recognized by consumers on the market. Nowadays, Protected Designation of Origin(PDO), Protected Geographical Indication(PGI) and Traditional Specialities Guaranteed(TSG) certifications include products originating in mountain areas, even if a large part of mountain foodstuff is not protected by these certifications and foods not made in mountain areas are often labeled as ―mountain food products‖. For this reason, the European Union has set a specific Regulation in 2012 to recognize and protect mountain food and to make the consumers safer about the origin information. The objective of this paper is twofold: firstly, it presents the recent aspects related to European legislation of mountain food product; secondly, it aims at reviewing the main features of nutritional quality and technology of dairy and meat products, as the most widespread mountain food products, and the main protocols used to evaluate the authenticity of these food products. The promotion of mountain food product through a specific label and the use of tracing methods, which are able to verify the authenticity of the origin of these products, may play a pivotal role in increasing the consumer‘s loyalty towards these products and could be a way to boost a sustainable development of these economically marginal rural areas. However, the analytical protocols developed so far(stable isotopes, macro and microelements, radionuclides, spectroscopic, molecular techniques, volatile substances profile, terpenes) are in many cases still at the experimental level due to the extreme variability of the mountain origin of the products to be tested.

Food Security： Where Are We Heading？

The issues of food security are an important aspect of every country for its social and economic growth and the eradication of poverty. It is particularly crucial for satisfying the needs of the ever-growing population in developing countries. Agriculture is the backbone of the people and the economy for developing countries, particularly in highly populated countries such as India, China and South East Asia. The world population is anticipated to rise to 8.3 billion by 2030 and to 9.2 billion by 2050. By that time, to feed the growing population, food production must double to keep pace with the escalating food demand. Agricultural commodities showed increases of 58.9% in import dependency ratio （IDR） as compared to 32.2% in 2013. Thus, this study attempts to review and explore the challenges of food security as well as the opportunities of the seed industry in Malaysia.

Effect of a 12-Week Dietary Intervention with Folic Acid or Folate-Enhanced Foods on Folate Status in Healthy Egyptian Women

The Egyptian government introduced wheat-flour fortification with iron and folic acid to reduce the incidence of neural tube defects, but suspended it for technical reasons. We previously developed novel legume foods with enhanced folate content. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of 12-week intervention with folate-enhanced foods versus folic acid supplement in improving folate status in Egyptian women. A randomized, parallel intervention trial with two active groups (n = 19, n = 18) and one blinded control group (n = 20) was executed over 12 weeks. Volunteers received either germinated legume foods and orange juice (≈250 μg/d folate) or folic acid supplement (500 μg/d) or apple juice (0 μg/d folate). Folate status was assessed by erythrocyte and plasma folate and total homocysteine (tHcy) at day 0, and after 8 and 12 weeks of intervention. After 12 weeks, mean plasma folate increased by 14 (P < 0.0001) and 12 (P < 0.0001) nmoL in the folic acid and food group, respectively. Erythrocyte folate concentration increased in the folic acid group from 614 to 912 (P < 0.0001) and in the food group from 631 to 914 nmoL (P < 0.0001). After 12 weeks, 90% of subjects in the folic acid group and 70% in the food group had erythrocyte folate concentrations exceeding 906 nmol/L. tHcy concentration was decreased by 20% (P = 0.007) and 18% (P = 0.006) in the folic acid and food group, respectively, but remained unchanged in the control group during intervention. Folate-enhanced foods effectively improve folate status in women of reproductive age. These foods could be used as a complement to folic acid fortification.

Process development for producing a food-grade glucose solution from rice straws

In this paper, processes for producing a food-grade glucose solution through enzymatic hydrolysis of celluloserich solids obtained from rice straws are presented. The rice straws were pretreated by acid-catalyzed steam explosion, and the reaction efficiency, toxicity control, and process economic feasibility were studied. Mass transfer resistance to the hydrolysis reaction was reduced by grinding with glass beads. A higher glucose concentration could be obtained by feeding more cellulose in the hydrolysis reaction; however, this also resulted in the production of undesired byproducts. Thus, a soaking process for the cellulose solids in water was developed to effectively reduce the generation of byproducts in the hydrolysis reaction. The resulting food-grade glucose solution can provide 414 kilocalories per liter, and could be used during a food-shortage crisis in the future.The current production cost is estimated to be 0.82 USD·L^(-1).

Changes of structure and functional properties of rice protein in the fresh edible rice during the seed development

It has been reported that fresh edible rice has more bioactive compounds and its protein is easier to digest and has lower hypoallergenic than mature rice. In this paper, the changes in structure and functional properties of proteins at five different stages, including early milky stage(EMS), middle milky stage(MMS), late milky stage(LMS), waxy ripe stage(WS)and ripening stage(RS), during the seed development were investigated. It was found that with the seed developing, the molecular weight of fresh rice protein gradually become larger while the secondary structure changed from the highest content of disordered structure at MMS to the highest content of ordered structure at RS, which affect the surface hydrophobicity and then the functional properties of proteins, including foaming properties, emulsifying properties and oil holding capacity. Fresh rice protein at MMS has the strongest surface hydrophobicity while fresh edible rice protein at RS has the strongest oil holding capability. The results of our study can provide a theoretical basis for the application of fresh rice protein in the food industry and help to develop new fresh edible rice food.

Calf Posture Recognition Using Convolutional Neural Network

Dairy farm management is crucial to maintain the longevity of the farm,and poor dairy youngstock or calf management could lead to gradually deteriorating calf health,which often causes premature death.This was found to be the most neglected part among the management workflows in Malaysia and has caused continuous loss over the recent years.Calf posture recognition is one of the effective methods to monitor calf behaviour and health state,which can be achieved by monitoring the calf behaviours of standing and lying where the former depicts active calf,and the latter,passive calf.Calf posture recognition module is an important component of some automated calf monitoring systems,as the system requires the calf to be in a standing posture before proceeding to the next stage of monitoring,or at the very least,to monitor the activeness of the calves.Calf posture such as standing or resting can easily be distinguished by human eye,however,to be recognized by a machine,it will require more complicated frameworks,particularly one that involves a deep learning neural networks model.Large number of highquality images are required to train a deep learning model for such tasks.In this paper,multiple ConvolutionalNeuralNetwork(CNN)architectures were compared,and the residual network(ResNet)model(specifically,ResNet-50)was ultimately chosen due to its simplicity,great performance,and decent inference time.Two ResNet-50 models having the exact same architecture and configuration have been trained on two different image datasets respectively sourced by separate cameras placed at different angle.There were two camera placements to use for comparison because camera placements can significantly impact the quality of the images,which is highly correlated to the deep learning model performance.After model training,the performance for both CNN models were 99.7%and 99.99%accuracies,respectively,and is adequate for a real-time calf monitoring system.

mRNA transcriptome profiling of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells HepG2 treated with Catharanthus roseus-silver nanoparticles

BACKGROUND The demand for the development of cancer nanomedicine has increased due to its great therapeutic value that can overcome the limitations of conventional cancer therapy.However,the presence of various bioactive compounds in crude plant extracts used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles(AgNPs)makes its precise mechanisms of action unclear.AIM To assessed the mRNA transcriptome profiling of human HepG2 cells exposed to Catharanthus roseus G.Don(C.roseus)-AgNPs.METHODS The proliferative activity of hepatocellular carcinoma(HepG2)and normal human liver(THLE3)cells treated with C.roseusAgNPs were measured using MTT assay.The RNA samples were extracted and sequenced using BGIseq500 platform.This is followed by data filtering,mapping,gene expression analysis,differentially expression genes analysis,Gene Ontology analysis,and pathway analysis.RESULTS The mean IC 50 values of C.roseusAgNPs on HepG2 was 4.38±1.59μg/mL while on THLE3 cells was 800±1.55μg/mL.Transcriptome profiling revealed an alteration of 296 genes.C.roseusAgNPs induced the expression of stress-associated genes such as MT,HSP and HMOX-1.Cellular signalling pathways were potentially activated through MAPK,TNF and TGF pathways that are responsible for apoptosis and cell cycle arrest.The alteration of ARF6,EHD2,FGFR3,RhoA,EEA1,VPS28,VPS25,and TSG101 indicated the uptake of C.roseus-AgNPs via both clathrin-dependent and clathrinindependent endocytosis.CONCLUSION This study provides new insights into gene expression study of biosynthesised AgNPs on cancer cells.The cytotoxicity effect is mediated by the aberrant gene alteration,and more interestingly the unique selective antiproliferative properties indicate the C.roseusAgNPs as an ideal anticancer candidate.

Extraction and Characterization of Litopenaeus vannamei’s Shell as Potential Sources of Chitosan Biopolymers

Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide,produced mainly as an industrial waste stream during crustacean processing.Chitin can be derived into chitosan through the deacetylation process.Conversion of shrimp waste into chitosan via the deacetylation process could be considered a practical approach for shell waste remediation.In this study,chitosan’s physicochemical characteristics extracted from two types of Pacific white leg shrimp,L.vannamei’s shell(i.e.,rough and smooth),were compared with commercial chitosan.The yield,moisture,ash,solubility,water and fat binding capacity were measured.The degree of deacetylation(DDA)was calculated using FTIR,and their chemical Structure was confirmed using XRD and SEM-EDS.Both extracted chitosan showed no significant difference in yield,moisture,ash,solubility and water binding capacity but showed a significant difference with commercial chitosan.Moreover,the fat binding capacity of commercial chitosan showed the lowest percentage(408.34±0.83%)as compared to extracted chitosan(smooth shell 549.59±12.48%;rough shell 500.55±12.10%).The DDA indicated that extracted chitosan from the smooth and rough shell was considered good chitosan as compared to commercial chitosan with 84.08±1.27%,80.78±0.79%and 74.99±1.48%,respectively.Additionally,the presence of hydroxyl and amino groups from FTIR and a good crystallinity index was recorded using XRD of extracted chitosan.Based on observed characteristics,shrimp shell waste from L.vannamei can achieve chitosan standard quality as a biopolymer and highly potential to be applied in various industrial applications.

Effect of ultrasound and microwave pretreatment on sprouting,GABA,bioactive compounds,and other physicochemical properties of sorghum

Aim of this study is to see how ultrasound(US)and microwave(MW)pretreatments affectγ-aminobutyric acid(GABA)and physicochemical parameters of sorghum sprouts.Before sprouting,the sorghum was treated with the US at different time intervals(10,15,20 min)and MW at various power levels(10%,30%,50%).Sample treated by the US for 15 min showed the highest sprouting percentage of 97.33%.Both treatments induced stress in grain resulting in GABA accumulation substantially from the control where US for 15 min and MW at 10%power level had the highest of 87.14 and 66.97μg/g,respectively.US treatment for 20 min showed the highest total phenolic content(TPC)of 21.26 mg GAE/100 g,while on 10 min of treatment,it showed the highest antioxidant activity of 84.53%DPPH inhibition.The water absorption capacity and oil absorption capacity were the highest of 0.86 g/g and 0.98 g/g in the MW-treated sample at 10%output power respectively.In conclusion,the ultrasound treatment successfully accelerated the sprouting rate and GABA content while retaining total phenolic content,making it beneficial for developing functional foods.

Regularization Methods to Approximate Solutions of Variational Inequalities

In this paper, we study the regularization methods to approximate the solutions of the variational inequalities with monotone hemi-continuous operator having perturbed operators arbitrary. Detail, we shall study regularization methods to approximate solutions of following variational inequalities: and with operator A being monotone hemi-continuous form real Banach reflexive X into its dual space X*, but instead of knowing the exact data (y0, A), we only know its approximate data satisfying certain specified conditions and D is a nonempty convex closed subset of X;the real function f defined on X is assumed to be lower semi-continuous, convex and is not identical to infinity. At the same time, we will evaluate the convergence rate of the approximate solution. The regularization methods here are different from the previous ones.

Molecular epidemiology of piliated pneumococcal isolates at a major tertiary hospital in the Klang Valley,Malaysia

Objective:To characterise a collection of pili-carrying and none pili-carrying pneumococcal isolates of clinical origin for serotypes,antibiotic resistance and genotype.Methods:In total,42 clinical isolates were collected between October 2017 and December 2019.Those isolates were analysed for antimicrobial susceptibility,serotype distribution,detection of pneumococcal virulence and pilus genes.Multilocus sequence typing was performed only for piliated isolates,followed by phylogenetic analysis.Results:The common isolation sites among the pneumococcal isolates were tracheal aspirate(28.6%),blood(26.2%),and sputum(23.8%).Fifty percent isolates were resistant to erythromycin,tetracycline(50.0%)and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole(43.0%).The most frequent were serotypes 19F(28.6%),6A/B(23.8%)and 19A(14.3%).Piliated isolates were detected in a small proportion(33.3%);64.3%were multidrug-resistant.ST320 was the prevalent sequence type among the piliated isolates and genetically related to the Pneumococcal Molecular Epidemiology Network clones Taiwan19F-14(CC271).In the phylogenetic analysis,some piliated isolates showed a close association having similar ST320,carrying serotype 19A and both pilus genes indicating their clonal spread.Conclusions:Pneumococcal lineages of piliated isolates have been globally disseminated and pili could have played a role in the spread of antibiotic resistant clones.

Detection, Biochemical and Molecular Characterization of Clostridium sporogens in Nono: A Nigerian Traditionally Fermented Yoghurt Drink

Nono is a traditionally fermented milk drink commonly consumed in the Northern parts of Nigeria. It is produced through the spontaneous fermentation of raw cow milk by Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB), a process that could result to the contamination of the product with such pathogenic organisms as Clostridia spp. The aim of this research was therefore to determine the incidence of Clostridia species in thirty-two (32) ready-to-drink nono samples collected directly from a number of Fulani vendors in randomly selected locations within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria. Isolated organisms were further subjected to some morphological and biochemical characterizations using standard microbiological procedures. The results obtained indicate that fourteen (14) isolates were putatively identified to be Clostridium sp., out of which five (5) isolates were confirmed to be Clostridium sporogens by a BLAST analysis of their respective 16SrRNA nucleotide sequence. It was concluded that, the detection of these pathogenic strains in frequently consumed product like nono could pose a public health risk and proactive measures to prevent an outbreak of food borne illness from nono consumption, were recommended.

Current status, problems, and perspectives of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease research

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) is a major chronic liver disease that can lead to liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, and ultimately death. NAFLD is pathologically classified as non-alcoholic fatty liver(NAFL) or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis(NASH) based on the existence of ballooned hepatocytes,although the states have been known to transform into each other. Moreover,since the detection of ballooned hepatocytes may be difficult with limited biopsied specimens, its clinical significance needs reconsideration. Repeated liver biopsy to assess histological NAFLD activity for therapeutic response is also impractical, creating the need for body fluid biomarkers and less invasive imaging modalities. Recent longitudinal observational studies have emphasized the importance of advanced fibrosis as a determinant of NAFLD outcome. Thus,identifying predictors of fibrosis progression and developing better screening methods will enable clinicians to isolate high-risk NAFLD patients requiring early intensive intervention. Despite the considerable heterogeneity of NAFLD with regard to underlying disease, patient age, and fibrosis stage, several clinical trials are underway to develop a first-in-class drug. In this review, we summarize the present status and future direction of NAFLD/NASH research towards solving unmet medical needs.

Mild drinking habit is a risk factor for hepatocarcinogenesis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with advanced fibrosis

AIM The impact of mild drinking habit(less than 20 g/d of ethanol) on the clinical course of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) has not been determined. We examined the influence of a mild drinking habit on liver carcinogenesis from NAFLD. METHODS A total of 301 patients who had been diagnosed as having NAFLD by liver biopsy between 2003 and 2016 [median age: 56 years, 45% male, 56% with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, 26% with advanced fibrosis(F3-4)] were divided into the mild drinking group withe thanol consumption of less than 20 g/d(mild drinking group, n = 93) and the non-drinking group(n = 208). Clinicopathological features at the time of liver biopsy and factors related to hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) occurrence were compared between the groups.RESULTS We observed significant differences in male prevalence(P = 0.01), platelet count(P = 0.04), and gammaglutamyl transpeptidase(P = 0.02) between the test groups. Over 6 years of observation, the HCC appearance rate was significantly higher in the mild drinking group(6.5% vs 1.4%, P = 0.02). Multivariate survival analysis using Cox's regression model revealed that hepatic advanced fibrosis(F3-4)(P < 0.01, risk ratio: 11.60), diabetes mellitus(P < 0.01, risk ratio: 89.50), and serum triglyceride(P = 0.04, risk ratio: 0.98) were factors significantly related to HCC in all NAFLD patients, while the effect of a drinking habit was marginal(P = 0.07, risk ratio: 4.43). In patients with advanced fibrosis(F3-4), however, a drinking habit(P = 0.04, risk ratio: 4.83), alpha-fetoprotein(P = 0.01, risk ratio: 1.23), and diabetes mellitus(P = 0.03, risk ratio: 12.00) were identified as significant contributors to HCC occurrence. CONCLUSION A mild drinking habit appears to be a risk factor for hepatocarcinogenesis in NAFLD patients, especially those with advanced fibrosis.

Filtrate of fermented mycelia from Antrodia camphorata reduces liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride in rats

AIM： To investigate the effects of filtrate of fermented mycelia from Antrodia camphorata （FMAC） on liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride （CCI4） in rats. METHODS： Forty Wistar rats were divided randomly into control group and model group. All model rats were given 200 mL/L CCI4 （2 mL/Kg, po） twice a week for 8 wk. Four weeks after CCh treatment, thirty model rats were further divided randomly into 3 subgroups： CCh and two FMAC subgroups. Rats in CCI4 and 2 FMAC subgroups were treated with FMAC 0, 0.5 and 1.0 g/kg, daily via gastrogavage beginning at the fitch week and the end of the eighth week. Spleen weight, blood synthetic markers （albumin and prothrombin time） and hepatic malondialdehyde （MDA） and hydroxyproline （HP） concentrations were determined. Expression of collagen I, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases （TIMP）-1 and transforming growth factor β1 （TGF-β1） mRNA were detected by RTPCR. Histochemical staining of Masson＇s trichrome was performed. RESULTS： CCI4 caused liver fibrosis, featuring increased prothrombin time, hepatic MDA and HP contents, and spleen weight and decreased plasma albumin level. Compared with CCh subgroup, FMAC subgroup （1 g/kg） significantly decreased the prothrombin time （36.7±7.2 and 25.1±10.2 in CCh and FMAC groups, respectively, P〈 0.05） and increased plasma albumin concentration （22.7± 1.0 and 30.7±2.5 in CCk and FMAC groups, respectively, P 〈 0.05）. Spleen weight was significantly lower in rats treated with CCh and FMAC （1 g/kg） compared to CCh treated rats only （2.7±0.1 and 2.4±0.2 in CCk and FMAC groups, respectively, P〈0.05）. The amounts of hepatic MDA and HP in CCI4± FAMC （1 g/kg） subgroup were also lower thanthose in CCh subgroup （MDA： 3.9±0.1 and 2.4±0.6 in CCh and CCI4 ＋ FMAC groups, respectively, P〈 0.01; HP： 1730.7±258.0 and 1311.5±238.8 in CCI4 and CCI4＋FMAC groups, respectively, P〈0.01）. Histologic examinations showed that CCI4＋FMAC subgroups had thinner or less fibrotic septa than CCh group. RT-PCR analysis indicated that FMAC （1 g/kg） reduced mRNA levels of collagen I, TIMP-1 and TGF-β1 （collagen I： 5.63±2.08 and 1.78±0.48 in CCh and CCI4＋FMAC groups, respectively, P〈0.01; TIMP-1： 1.70±0.82 and 0.34±0.02 in CCh and CCI4 ＋ FMAC groups, respectively, P〈0.01; TGF-β1：38.03±11.9 and 4.26±2.17 in CCh and CCI4＋FMAC groups, respectively, P〈0.01） in the CCI4-treated liver. CONCLUSION： It demonstrates that FMAC can retard the progression of liver fibrosis induced by CCh in rats.