[Study on the effects of total flavonoids from litchi nucleus on nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappa B and related protein expression in rat hepatic stellate cell].

ABSTRACT

Objective: The effect of total flavonoids of litchi (TFL) on nuclear translocation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF- kappa B) in rat hepatic stellate cell line (HSC-T6) induced by transforming growth factor - beta 1 (TGF- beta 1) in vitro was studied to explore the mechanism of action of anti-hepatic fibrosis drugs. Methods: HSC-T6 was cultured in vitro, induced by TGFß1 for 24 h, and then treated with TFL at 125, 250 and 500 µg/ml for 48 h. The effect of TFL on NF-κB nuclear translocation in HSC-T6 was observed by confocal laser microscopy. The effects of TFL on the expression of TLR4, p-IκB ɑ, p-NF-κB p65, NF-κB and Collagen I protein were detected by western blot. The expressions of TLR4 and p-NF-κB p65 were detected by immunofluorescence. Data were presented as mean±SEM. Homogeneity test of variance was performed and then followed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The multiple comparisons between groups were performed by LSD test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed TFL inhibited the nuclear translocation of NF-κB in activated HSC-T6 in a concentration-dependent manner and TFL down regulated the protein expression levels of TLR4, p-IκB ɑ, p-NF-κB p65, NF-κB and collagen I protein in HSC-T6 in a concentration-dependent manner. Conclusion: The mechanism of TFL against hepatic fibrosis may be related to the inhibition of nuclear translocation of NF-κb in the activated HSC-T6 and the expression of TLR4, P-iκbɑ, P-nf-κb p65, NF-κb and collagen I protein in HSC-T6.