RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To explore biomarkers of Pien Tze Huang that ameliorated the symptoms of hepatic fibrosis. METHODS: Two groups of carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic fibrosis (HF) mice model were constructed in our study: one group received PZH treatment and another group received no treatment. We performed this study to investigate the role of PZH in the regulation process of hepatic fibrosis. RESULTS: We identified 31 down-regulated and 39 up-regulated miRNAs using small RNA-seq analysis. Combining RNA-Seq data analysis, our study revealed 7 significant target genes (Sp4, Slc2a6, Tln2, Hmga2, Ank3, Pax9, Fgf9). The results of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis suggested that the expression level of 6 genes (Sp4, Tln2, Hmga2, Ank3, Pax9, Fgf9) were down-regulated compared to control group. On the other hand, the expression level of Slc2a6 appeared to be up-regulated. The protein mass spectrometry showed that PZH group had lower protein expression of Tln2 compared to control group. CONCLUSION: We identified 7 genes that were significantly related to PZH response in HF mice using multiple conjoint analysis methods. These genes could participate in underlying regulation mechanism of hepatic fibrosis during PZH treatment.