AIM: To evaluate the protective effect of Gan Qian Ke(GQK) on liver injury and hepatic fibrosis in experimental animals. METHODS: ①This experiment was conducted at Key Laboratory of Natural Drugs, Three Gorges University between March 2004 and January 2005. Ninety Kunming mice and 90 Wistar rats at different sex were selected. The GQK (main components: Biejia, Dabei, eretmochelys, Zaoxiu, Tianqi, Agkistrodon acutus, and so on) was made by Staff Room of Pharmacology, Medical College, Three Gorges University. ②To evaluate the effect of the GQK on mouse hepatic fibrosis induced by thioacetamide: Thirty Kunming mice were selected and assigned into three groups randomly: The mice in the control group were given saline with gastric perfusion (0.2 ml each mouse), 100 g/L GQK low dose group(0.2 ml each mouse), 100 g/L GQK high dose group (0.5 ml each mouse), with gastric perfusion, once a day for 3 days. After the last administration 24 hours, thioacetamide 50 mg/kg was injected into every mouse through intraperitoneal injection and repeat dosage as above. Fossa orbitalis blood was got, and level of blood serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) was detected with Reitman method after 24 hours. ③To evaluate the effect of GQK on mouse hepatic fibrosis induced by galactosamine: Thirty Kunming mice were selected and assigned into groups with the same name as above. 500 mg/kg D-galactosamine were injected with intraperitoneal injection. The fossa orbitalis blood was got, and the level of blood serum GPT was detected with Reitman method after 72 hours. ④To evaluate the effect of GQK on mouse hepatic fibrosis induced by Tetrachloromathane: Thirty Kunming mice were selected and assigned into groups with the same name as above. After last administration 24 hours,1 g/L tetrachloromathane paraffin 10 ml/kg was injected into every mouse through intraperitoneal injection and repeat dosage as above. The fossa orbitalis blood was got, and the level of blood serum GPT was detected with Reitman method after 24 hours. ⑤To evaluate the effect of GQK on rat chronic hepatic fibrosis induced by tetrachloromathane: Ninety Wistar rats were selected and randomly divided into 6 groups: blank control group (normal diet and never to give any drugs); saline control group, after establishing hepatic fibrosis models 1 g/L tetrachloromathane paraffin(0.
2 ml each mouse) with subcutaneous injection at back, once every 4 days for 45 days, 12 times, intervening with saline; prophylactic GQK low and high dose groups, 0.5 g/L and 1.0 g/L GQK was given to rats, respectively at equal pace of the model to succeed, once a day; GQK low and high dose groups, 0.5 g/L and 1.0 g/L GQK was given to rats, respectively at equal pace of the model to succeed for 60 days. After 24 hours last hypodermic injection with 1 g/L tetrachloromathane paraffin, two rats from saline control group gained randomly were sacrificed. Liver histological section was commited for checking out the condition of models. After intervening with GQK for 60 days, tail blood of rats was gotten, and to detect the level of serum GPT, and the level of serum alkaline phosphatase (AKP) was detected with obnitrophosphophenol dynamic method. Incidence rate of liver hepatic fibrosis was added up. ⑥According to the histological and morphological changes, liver hepatic fibrosis was separated into light (desmoplasia in portal area and verge to hepatic lobules lightly, portal area was widen and to accompany with small amounts of inflammatory cell infiltration), middle (obvious desmoplasia in portal area and verge to hepatic lobules markedly, portal area was widen and to accompany with large amounts of inflammatory cell infiltration, the framework of hepatic lobules had been divla renewedly, but representative abnormal hepatic lobules to shape not yet), severity (apart from above-mentioned, it also had representative abnormal hepatic lobules to shape). ⑦Measurement data and numeration data were compared with t-test and χ2 te