RESUMO
Objective To investigate the effect of rat serum containing oxymatrine (OM) on the activation of LX2 human hepatic stellate cells induced by sodium arsenite and its mechanism. Methods SD rats were gavaged with 100 mg/kg OM or equal volume of normal saline to prepare OM-containing serum and blank serum. LO2 human embryonic liver cell line was treated with 100 µmol/L sodium arsenite for 24 hours, and then the supernatant was collected. LX2 cells were incubated with the mixture of the supernatant and normal medium at the ratio of 1:4 for 24 hours to establish the cell model of indirect arsenic exposure. Blank serum group (160 mL/L blank serum), indirect arsenic exposure group (160 mL/L blank serum with arsenic exposure), low-dose OM-containing serum group (80 mL/L blank serum and 80 mL/L OM-containing serum with arsenic exposure), high-dose OM-containing serum group (160 mL/L medicated serum with arsenic exposure) were set up. MTT assay and flow cytometry were used to detect cell proliferation and cell cycle, respectively. Western blot analysis was performed to detect the protein expressions of α-SMA, Bcl2, BAX, cyclin D1, PI3K, and phospho-AKT (p-AKT) in LX2 cells. Results After indirect arsenic treatment, the proliferation rate of LX2 cells increased, the proportion of G1 phase decreased, the proportion of apoptosis decreased, the expression of α-SMA, PI3K, p-AKT, cyclin D1, Bcl2 were significantly up-regulated, and the expression of BAX decreased. After OM-containing serum treatment, the proportion of cells in G1 phase increased, the proportion of apoptosis increased, the expression of BAX protein increased significantly, and the expression of other proteins were significantly down-regulated, especially in the high-dose group. Conclusion OM-containing serum can effectively inhibit the proliferation of LX2 hepatic stellate cells induced by arsenite and promote their apoptosis, which may be related to the blocking of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.