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Protective effect of Radix Bupleuri extract against liver cirrhosis in rats Tang, Wan-he; Yang, Quan-wei; Xiao, Liu; Zhang, Geng; Hu, Zuo-wei & Tan, Jing-ling Abstract Purpose: To explore the effect of Radix Bupleuri extract (RBE) on diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced liver cirrhosis in rats. Methods: Rats were injected with DEN once a week for 8 weeks to induce liver cirrhosis. Some DEN-induced rats were also treated with RBE, which was obtained by extracting dried Radix Bupleuri in water, for 8 weeks. Afterwards, biochemical indices and oxidative stress markers were assessed. Results: RBE significantly decreased serum concentrations of both alanine transaminase (137.3 ± 4.4 U/L, p < 0.01) and aspartate aminotransaminase (152.1 ± 3.4 U/L, p < 0.01) in DEN-induced rats at week 8. In addition, RBE significantly decreased malondialdehyde (0.13 ± 0.02 umol/L, p < 0.01) and superoxide dismutase (0.73 ± 0.04 U/mg protein, p < 0.01) levels in DEN-induced rats (p < 0.01). Conclusion: RBE exhibits a protective effect against DEN-induced liver cirrhosis in rats. Thus, it may have the potential to be used to treat liver cirrhosis in clinical settings. Keywords Radix Bupleuri; Liver cirrhosis; Anti-oxidant; Diethylnitrosamine; Alanine transaminase; Aspartate aminotransaminase

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