Proteomic Analysis of the Effect of Fuzheng Huayu Recipe on Fibrotic Liver in Rats

Hepatic fibrosis is a common pathological process of chronic liver diseases and would lead to cirrhosis, and Fuzheng Huayu (FZHY) is an effective Chinese herbal product against liver fibrosis. This study observes FZHY influence on proteome of fibrotic liver with differential proteomic approach and aims to understand FZHY multiple action mechanisms on liver fibrosis. The liver fibrosis models were induced with intraperitoneal injection of dimethylnitrosamine for 4 weeks in rats and divided into model control (model) and FZHY-treated (FZHY) groups, while normal rats were used as normal control (normal). After model establishment, rats in FZHY groups were administered 4 g/kg wt of FZHY for 4 weeks, and normal and model groups were given the same volume of saline. The liver proteins in the above 3 groups were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), the differentially expressed spots were analyzed and compared between normal and model or model and FZHY groups, and then the proteins were identified with mass spectrum analysis and validated partially with western blot and real-time PCR. 1000~1200 spots were displayed on each 2D gel, and a total of 61 protein spots were found with significant intensity difference between normal control or FZHY and model control. 23 most obviously differential spots were excised, and in-gel digestion and 21 peptide mass fingerprints (PMF) were obtained with MALDI-TOF MS analysis, and 14 proteins were identified through protein database searching. Among 14 differentially expressed proteins, 8 proteins in normal and FZHY groups had the same tendency of differential expression compared with the ones in model group. And one of them, vimentin, was validated by western blot and real-time PCR analyses. Our study reveals 12 proteins responsible for fibrogenesis induced by DMN in rats, and among them, 8 proteins in fibrotic liver were regulated by FZHY, including aldehyde dehydrogenase, vimentin isoform (CRA_b), gamma-actin, vimentin, fructose-bisphosphate aldolase B, aldo-keto reductase, S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase isoform, and HSP90. It indicates that the action mechanism of FZHY antiliver fibrosis may be associated with modulation of proteins associated with metabolism and stress response, as well as myofibroblast activation. The study provides new insights and data for exploring the liver fibrogenesis pathophysiology and FZHY action mechanism against liver fibrosis.