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BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies
Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Anti-fibrotic effects of phenolic compounds on pancreatic stellate cells

Authors: Zesi Lin, Lu-Cong Zheng, Hong-Jie Zhang, Siu Wai Tsang, Zhao-Xiang Bian

Published in: BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Background

Pancreatic fibrosis is a prominent histopathological characteristic of chronic pancreatitis and plausibly a dynamic process of transition to the development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Conversely, the activation of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) has been recently suggested as the key initiating step in pancreatic fibrosis. As natural polyphenols had been largely applied in complementary therapies in the past decade, in this study, we aimed to investigate which groups of phenolic compounds exert promising inhibitory actions on fibrogenesis as there are few effective strategies for the treatment of pancreatic fibrosis to date.

Methods

We examined the anti-fibrotic effects of a variety of herbal constituents using a cellular platform, the LTC-14 cells, which retained essential characteristics and morphologies of primary PSCs, by means of various biochemical assays including cell viability test, real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting analysis.

Results

Among a number of commonly used herbal constituents, we found that the application of rhein, emodin, curcumin and resveratrol significantly suppressed the mRNA and protein levels of several fibrotic mediators namely alpha-smooth muscle actin, type I collagen and fibronectin in LTC-14 cells against transforming growth factor-beta stimulation. Though the values of cytotoxicity varied, the mechanism of the anti-fibrotic action of these four phenolic compounds was principally associated with a decrease in the activation of the nuclear factor-kappaB signaling pathway.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that the mentioned phenolic compounds may serve as anti-fibrotic agents in PSC-relating disorders and pathologies, particularly pancreatic fibrosis.
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Metadata
Title
Anti-fibrotic effects of phenolic compounds on pancreatic stellate cells
Authors
Zesi Lin
Lu-Cong Zheng
Hong-Jie Zhang
Siu Wai Tsang
Zhao-Xiang Bian
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 2662-7671
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-015-0789-y

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