Herbal supplement attenuation of cardiac fibrosis in rats with CCl ₄ -induced liver cirrhosis

Previously we found carbon tetrachloride (CCl ₄ ) 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 CCl ₄ -treated-only group exhibits more trichrome staining, meaning that more fibrosis is present. Moreover, CCl ₄ could further induce cardiac-fibrosis via TGF-β-p-Smad2/3-CTGF pathway. However, our data showed that the CCl ₄ -indcued cardiac abnormalities were attenuated by Ocimum gratissimum extract (OGE) and silymarin cotreatments. In conclusion, our results indicated that the OGE and silymarin may be a potential traditional herb for the protection of cardiac tissues from the CCl ₄ induced cirrhosis associated cardiac fibrosis through modulating the TGF-β signaling pathway.