Protective Effect of Pentoxifylline and Ciprofloxacin on Dimethylnitrosamine-induced Hepatic Fibrosis in Rats

Suh, Kang Suek; Lee, Chang Hun; Sol, Mee Young; Lee, Sun Kyung

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hepatic fibrosis is known to be a predisposing condition of cirrhosis for which there is no proven effective therapy. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of pentoxifylline and ciprofloxacin on biochemical and histological features of rat hepatic fibrosis induced by dimethylnitrosamine (DMN).
METHODS
Seventy male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups including control (n = 10), DMN (n = 20), DMN plus pentoxifylline (n = 20) and DMN plus ciprofloxacin (n = 20). The rats were injected intraperitoneally with normal saline in the control group and the aforementioned chemicals in the study groups three times a week for 3 weeks. Two rats of the control group, and fives of each study group were sacrificed weekly after the beginning of experiment. From sacrified rats the following parameters of hepatic fibrosis were determined: AST, ALT, cytokines IL-1beta, TNF-alpha and INF-gamma, and histological features of hepatic tissue. RESULT: Rat weight, serological and histological findings were distinctively improved in two treated groups compared with untreated DMN group(p<0.05), The antifibrogenic activity between treated groups was rather better in the group treated with pentoxifylline than in the group treated with ciprofloxacin. During the first and second weeks after experiment the distribution of hepatic stellate cells in treated groups was limited, whereas DMN group showed their diffuse distribution. At the third week DMN group displayed micronodular cirrhosis, but treated groups showed only mild centrilobular fibrotic areas without developing cirrhosis.
CONCLUSION
Our results indicate that pentoxifylline and cirprofloxacin may be protective against DMN induced rat hepatic fibrogenesis, while accompanying the inhibition of hepatic stellate cells during the early stage of hepatic fibrogenesis.