Effects of pentoxifylline on the hepatic content of TGF-beta1 and collagen in Schistosomiasis japonica mice with liver fibrosis.

AIM: To study the effects of pentoxifylline (PTX) on the content of hepatic TGF-beta1, type I and type III collagen in schistosomiasis japonica mice with liver fibrosis and its mechanism of anti-fibrosis.
METHODS: Forty mice with schistosomiasis were divided into four groups: one group as control without any treatment, other three were treated with Praziquantel 500 mg/(kg x d)for 2 d, high dose PTX 360 mg/(kg x d) for 8 wk, and low dose PTX 180 mg/(kg x d) for 8 wk respectively. Immunohistochemical technique and multimedia color pathographic analysis system were applied to observe the content change of hepatic TGF-beta1, type I and type III collagen in schistosomiasis japonica mice with liver fibrosis before and after PTX treatment.
RESULTS: Effects of PTX on the content change of hepatic TGF-beta1, type I and type III collagen in schistosomiasis japonica mice with liver fibrosis were related to the dosage of PTX, high dose PTX treated group could significantly reduce the content of TGF-beta1 (0.709+/-0.111), type I (0.644+/-0.108) and type III (0.654+/-0.152) collagen compared with those of control group (0.883+/-0.140, 0.771+/-0.156, 0.822+/-0.129) with statistical significance (P<0.05). Low dose PTX could also reduce the hepatic content of TGF-beta1 (0.752+/-0.152), type I (0.733+/-0.117) and type III (0.788+/-0.147) collagen, but without statistical significance (P>0.05). Both high dose and low dose PTX groups have significant differences on the content of TGF-beta1, type I and type III collagen (P<0.05, P<0.05, P<0.01, respectively).
CONCLUSION: High dose of PTX treatment could reduce the content of hepatic TGF-beta1, type I and type III collagen significantly in schistosomiasis japonica mice with liver fibrosis, and thus plays its role of antifibrosis.