Abstract：To study the effect of Uygur Foeniculum vulgare Mill on Transfer Growth Factor -β1 (TGF-β1) of experimental hepatic fibrosis rats, 48 Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups randomly, i.e., the normal control group, the model group, the colchicines group, and the Uygur Foeniculum vulgare Mill group. All rats except for those in the normal control group were induced with 2mL/kg carbon tetrachloride. Uygur Foeniculum vulgare Mill group and colchicines group were treated with 100mg/kg Uygur Foeniculum vulgare Mill and 0.2mg/kg colchicines, respectively, for 6 weeks. Live tissue of hepatic fibrosis was extirpated for pathologic examination with Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE) stains and expression of TGF-β1 with immunohistochemistry stain. The results show that the degree of hepatic fibrosis in the Foeniculum vulgare Mill preventive group was improved significantly as seen from staining of HE. The expression of TGF-β1 in the model group was in a higher level than that in the normal group (P<0.01). But the expression level of TGF-β1 in the Foeniculum vulgare Mill group was lower than that in the model group. It is inferred that Foeniculum vulgare Mill can be used to prevent rat hepatic fibrosis by reducing expression of TGF-β1 and to improve hepatic functions.
2010, Vol. 28 
