Gefitinib, An Egfr Inhibitor, Prevents Liver Fibrosis Development Of Mice

Liver fibrosis, a serious threat to human health, still lacks of effective anti-fibrosis treatment. Studies have found that EGF plays an important role in liver fibrosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Gifitinib, an EGFR inhibitor, on liver fibrosis of mice. Experiment was divided into three groups, the control group, the liver fibrosis group and Gifitinib intervention group. The liver fibrosis model was induced by intraperitoneal injection with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) three times per week for 8 weeks in liver fibrosis group and Gifitinib intervention group. The mice in Gifitinib intervention group were intraperitoneal injection of Gifitinib after six weeks injection of CCl4. Meanwhile, mice in liver fibrosis group were only intraperitoneal injection with equal volume of solvent. Masson staining was applied to observe the liver histology change. The expression of mRNA and protein were assessed by PCR and western blot. Previously, we found that serum levers of ALT, AST in Gifitinib intervention group were lower than that in liver fibrosis group; Alb levels were higher than that in liver fibrosis group. The protein and mRNA levers of TGF-beta 1 and alpha-SMA were gradually increased along with the progress of liver fibrosis and obviously down-regulated by Gifitinib intervention as compared to the liver fibrosis group.