Effect of MGP on liver fibrosis induced by CCl₄ in rats.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Schematic illustration for <i>in vivo</i> experiments. Each group except the control received an oral dose of CCl₄ (1 ml/kg body weight) twice a week (40%, diluted in olive oil) for 10 weeks (triangle). The control group was injected with normal saline. GP extract was suspended in water and administered orally once per day at a dose of 400 mg/kg for 9 weeks (black column), starting 7 days after the first treatment with CCl₄. Control rats received distilled water alone. Rats were weighed and sacrificed 10 weeks after the first CCl₄ treatment. (<b>B</b>) Survival analysis. The death of rats was recorded every week and used to calculate the survival rate. Livers were excised and fixed in formaldehyde for (<b>C</b>) histopathological examination. The rat liver sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin and Sirius red-Fast green. The original magnification was 40×. (<b>D</b>) Collagen content. The collagen areas were calculated in eight fields independently and the extent of fibrosis in each field was expressed as the area of collagen as a percentage of the total area of the field. (<b>E</b>) Hydroxyproline content. The level of hydroxyproline in the liver tissue was measured as described in the <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0053988#s2" target="_blank">Materials and Methods</a> section. Significance under <i>p</i>-values<0.05, 0.001 and 0.0001 were marked with *, ** and ***, respectively.