Abstract: Objective To study the protective effect of different doses of aqueous extracted components of Bupleurum chinense against rats' liver fibrosis induced by composite factors. Methods The model of rats' liver fibrosis was established by the composite factors of high-fat diet, alcohol stimulation and porcine serum. Rats were observed in 0, 1, 6, 11, 16, 21 d in terms of animal general, syndrome integral, body weight, daily food intake, daily water, organ index of liver and spleen, thymus, calculation, serum the alanine aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), laminin (LN), serum hyaluronic acid (HA), procollagen type III (PC-III), type IV collagen (IV-C), transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF- beta 1) index level. Results The diet, drinking water and physical activities of rats were improved by aqueous extracted components of Bupleurum chinense ranged from 0.90 g·kg-1 to 3.60g·kg-1 for 21 consecutive days by gavage. The contents of ALT, AST, HA, LN, IV-C and PC III and liver index declined significantly. Conclusion Liver fibrosis in rats induced by composite factors can be protected effectively by aqueous extracted components of Bupleurum chinense and shows a good dose-effect relationship.

Key words: hepatic fibrosis, Bupleurum chinense, aqueous extracted components, rat model