{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,19]],"date-time":"2026-10-19T17:44:16Z","timestamp":1792431856474,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,6]],"date-time":"2017-05-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1494028800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"the Social Development of Shaanxi province Key Project","award":["2015SF198"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2015SF198"]}]},{"name":"Science and Technology Innovation Project of Shaanxi province","award":["2015SF2-08-01"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2015SF2-08-01"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Amarogentin, a secoiridoid glycoside that is mainly extracted from Swertia and Gentiana roots, has been suggested to exhibit many biological effects, including anti-oxidative, anti-tumour, and anti-diabetic activities. The present study was designed to evaluate the protective effects of amarogentin on carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in vivo and the underlying mechanism. Fibrosis was induced by subcutaneous injections of 6 mL\/kg of 20% carbon tetrachloride (dissolved in olive oil) twice per week for seven weeks. Mice were orally treated with 25, 50, and 100 mg\/kg amarogentin and with colchicine as a positive control. Biochemical assays and histopathological investigations showed that amarogentin delayed the formation of liver fibrosis; decreased alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, malondialdehyde and hydroxyproline levels; and increased albumin, cyclic guanosine monophosphate, glutathione peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase levels. Moreover, amarogentin exhibited downregulation of \u03b1-smooth muscle actin and transforming growth factor-\u03b21 levels in immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses. The levels of phosphorylated extracellular regulated protein kinases, c-Jun N-terminal kinase, and p38 were also significantly reduced in all amarogentin-treated groups in a dose-dependent manner. These findings demonstrated that amarogentin exerted significant hepatoprotective effects against carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in mice and suggested that the effect of amarogentin against liver fibrosis may be by anti-oxidative properties and suppressing the mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling pathway.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules22050754","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,8]],"date-time":"2017-05-08T11:45:16Z","timestamp":1494243916000},"page":"754","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":29,"title":["Protective Effects of Amarogentin against Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Liver Fibrosis in Mice"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"given":"Ya","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Natural Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 West Changle Road, Xi\u2019an 710032, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hang","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Natural Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 West Changle Road, Xi\u2019an 710032, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hua","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Natural Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 West Changle Road, Xi\u2019an 710032, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Natural Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 West Changle Road, Xi\u2019an 710032, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fang","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Natural Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 West Changle Road, Xi\u2019an 710032, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tian","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Xi\u2019an Day Natural Inc., F501 Gazelle Valley, Pioneering R&amp;D Park, 69 Jinye Road, Xi\u2019an 710077, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Si-Wang","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Natural Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Fourth Military Medical University, 169 West Changle Road, Xi\u2019an 710032, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,5,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"38","DOI":"10.1016\/S0168-8278(02)00429-4","article-title":"Liver fibrosis\u2014From bench to bedside","volume":"38","author":"Friedman","year":"2003","journal-title":"J. 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