Herbal Supplement Attenuation of Cardiac Fibrosis in Rats with CCl4-Induced Liver Cirrhosis

Previously we found carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced cirrhosis associated cardiac hypertrophy and apoptosis. The purpose of this study is to determine whether further CCl4 treatment would induce cardiac cell fibrosis. The cardiac tissues were analyzed by H&E. histological staining, Trichrome Masson staining and Western blotting. The results showed that the CCl4-treated-only group exhibits more trichrome staining, meaning that more fibrosis is present. Moreover, CCl4 could further induce cardiac-fibrosis via TGF-beta-p-Smad2/3-CTGF pathway. However, our data showed that the CCl4-indcued cardiac abnormalities were attenuated by Ocimum gratissimum extract (OGE) and silymarin co-treatments. In conclusion, our results indicated that the OGE and silymarin may be a potential traditional herb for the protection of cardiac tissues from the CCl4 induced cirrhosis associated cardiac fibrosis through modulating the TGF-beta signaling pathway.