Tension of normal hepatic parenchyma. In contrast, the livers of the low dose CLREtreated Group

Tension of normal hepatic parenchyma. In contrast, the livers of the low dose CLREtreated Group 4 (Figures 12D and 13D) showed less fibrotic macro-nodules than those of the Silymarin-treated Group 3, but the improvements were not great as those seen in Groups 3 and 5. These visual evaluations provide further independent confirmation that CLRE treatment effectively protected the liver from further cirrhosis in a dose dependent manner.Masson’s Trichrome stainingThe gross appearances of the liver samples and microscopic assessment (H E staining) of their sections in the experimental Groups 1? are shown in Figures 12 and 13. The gross appearance of livers from the normal rats in Group 1 (Figure 12A) appeared reddish with smooth surfaces and without signs of nodules, and histology showed normal architecture (Figure 13A). Livers from the cirrhotic rats of Group 2 appeared congested with numerous micro- and macro-nodules (Figure 12B). The normal liver architecture was lost and replaced by regenerating nodules that were separated by fibrous septae extending from the central vein to the portal triad (Figure 13B) and accompanied by intensive proliferation of the bile duct together18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Normal RatsThe degree of fibrosis determined by Masson’s trichrome staining of the liver sections from all of the treated groups is illustrated in Figure 14. Liver sections from the normal rats (Figure 14A) appeared normal without signs of collagen deposition. Liver sections from the cirrhosis rats of Group 2 revealed increased deposition of collagen fibers PubMed ID:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25609842 around the congested central vein indicating severe fibrosis (Figure 14B). Liver tissues from Silymarin-treated Group 3 (Figure 14C) showed minimal collagen deposition indicating minimal fibrosis. Livers from rats treated with low dose CLRE showed moderate deposition of collagen fibers and moderate congestion around the central vein (Figure 14D), while those from rats treated with high dose CLRE showed mild collagen deposition and mild congestion around the central vein (Figure 12E). This evaluation of the degree of fibrosis confirms the previous findings that CLRE treatment protected the livers of animals from progressive fibrosis.Immunohistochemistry of Bax, Bcl2 and PCNABax, Bcl2 and PCNA staining of hepatocytes from the livers of all experimental groups are shown in Figures 15A,CAT nM/min/mg protein 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Cirrhosis Rats Normal Rats Low Dose CLREtreated Rats (250 mg/kg) Silymarin-treated Rats High Dose CLREtreated Rats (500 mg/kg) * **SOD U/mg protein*********Low Dose CLREtreated Rats (250 mg/kg)Figure 7 Effect of CLRE on the levels of SOD enzyme in liver tissue homogenate at the end of 8 weeks study. Data were ARA290 msds expressed as mean ?SEM. *P<0.05 compared with the normal control Group 1. **P<0.05 compared with cirrhosis control Group 2.High Dose CLREtreated Rats (500 mg/kg)Silymarin-treated RatsCirrhosis RatsFigure 8 Effect of CLRE on the levels of CAT in liver tissue homogenate at the end of 8 weeks study. Data were expressed as mean ?SEM. *P<0.001 compared with the normal control Group 1. **P<0.001 compared with cirrhosis control Group 2.Salama et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2013, 13:56 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/13/Page 10 ofP400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 Normal Rats ** * * *Bax/Bcl Ratio -TGF-beta TNF-alphaNormal RatsSilymarin-treated RatsCirrhosis RatsLow Dose CLtreated Rats (250 mg/kg)*** High Dose CLREtreated Rats (500 mg/kg)Silymarin-treat.