Objective: To explore biomarkers of Pien Tze Huang that ameliorated the symptoms of hepatic fibrosis.
Methods: Two groups of carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic fibrosis (HF) mice model were constructed in our study: one group received PZH treatment and another group received no treatment. We performed this study to investigate the role of PZH in the regulation process of hepatic fibrosis.
Results: We identified 31 down-regulated and 39 up-regulated miRNAs using small RNA-seq analysis. Combining RNA-Seq data analysis, our study revealed 7 significant target genes (Sp4, Slc2a6, Tln2, Hmga2, Ank3, Pax9, Fgf9). The results of real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis suggested that the expression level of 6 genes (Sp4, Tln2, Hmga2, Ank3, Pax9, Fgf9) were down-regulated compared to control group. On the other hand, the expression level of Slc2a6 appeared to be up-regulated. The protein mass spectrometry showed that PZH group had lower protein expression of Tln2 compared to control group.
Conclusion: We identified 7 genes that were significantly related to PZH response in HF mice using multiple conjoint analysis methods. These genes could participate in underlying regulation mechanism of hepatic fibrosis during PZH treatment.
Keywords: Pien Tze Huang; RNA-Seq; biomarkers; carbon tetrachloride; fibroblast growth factor 9; liver cirrhosis.