Effect of blueberry on HGF expression in rats with hepatic fibrosis

Objective To investigate the effects of blueberry on the prevention of liver fibrosis in rats and the influences of blueberry on hepatocyte growth factor(HGF),matrix metallopeptidase-9(MMP-9),and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-2(TIMP-2)in liver tissues of the rats.Methods Sixty Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups(saline control group,model group,low,moderate,and high dose blueberry group,and Fuang Bie-Jia-Ruan-Gan tablet group).The hepatic fibrosis model of rat was established by intraperitoneal injection of porcine serum once daily for 12 weeks.The rats in blueberry treatment groups and Fu-Fang-Bie-Jia-Ruan-Gan tablet group were perfused with blueberry juice or FuFang-Bie-Jia-Ruan-Gan tablet for 12 weeks and the saline control group was treated with saline alone.All rats were sacrificed at the end of the treatments.Pathologic changes of hepatic tissue were evaluated with hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining.Expressions of HGF,MMP-9,and TIMP-2 mRNA were detected with real-time fluorescent quantitative reverse transcriptise-PCR,and the expressions of HGF,MMP-9,and TIMP-2 protein in the liver tissue were detected by immunohistochemical assay.Results Compared with physiological saline control group,the mRNA and protein expressions of HGF,MMP-9,and TIMP-2 were significantly higher(P < 0.05 for all)in model group.The rats in moderate and high dose blueberry treatment groups showed significantly increased levels of HGF mRNA(634.9±61.2,637.7±68.2),HGF protein(31.8±3.0,31.2±4.3),MMP-9 mRNA(359.1±29.5,361.4±27.1),MMP-9 protein(39.4±4.0,38.5±3.7)and decreased levels of TIMP-2 mRNA(426.0±16.7,431.3±33.0),TIMP-protein(41.6±6.2,37.3±4.3),respectively,compared to those of model group.Conclusion Blueberry has preventive effect on porcine serum-induced liver fibrosis in rats.The mechanism may be associated with the up-regulated expressions of HGF and MMP-9 and down-regulated expression of TIMP-2.