Antifibrotic effect of heparin on liver fibrosis model in rats

Table 1 Liver parameters measured terminally in normal control (n = 6), carbon tetrachloride control (n = 6), silymarin (100 mg/kg, n = 6), heparin (2000 IU/kg, n = 6), silymarin and heparin (combination) (n = 6) group and control treated (n =6) animals

Parameters	Normal control	CCl4 control	Silymarin (100 mg/kg)	Heparin (2000 IU/kg)	Silymarin 100 mg/kg and heparin 2000 IU/kg treated (combination) group	Control treated
Food intake (g/rat per day)	25.87 ± 2.9	24.62 ± 3.5	24.01 ± 2.5	22.56 ± 3.9	23.46 ± 1.5	21.82 ± 4.0
Water intake (mL/d)	145.78 ± 5.1	148.01 ± 6.2	146.71 ± 5.2	140.98 ± 5.5	142.64 ± 7.2	141.72 ± 4.6
SGOT (U/L)	25.4 ± 13.9	124.11 ± 13.4b	71.81 ± 3.7c	72.32 ± 5.4c	56.63 ± 9.2d	22.6 ± 11.2
SGPT (IU/L)	27.8 ± 8.3	199.99 ± 15.8b	128.17 ± 14.0d	132.17 ± 9.4d	105.62 ± 12.2d	28.6 ± 8.1
ALP (IU/L)	266.6 ± 31.4	583.46 ± 86.1b	334.9 ± 24.1d	330.86 ± 29.7d	296.11 ± 46.1d	273.0 ± 25.1
Total bilirubin (mg/dL)	0.96 ± 0.6	8.45 ± 0.5b	1.88 ± 0.8d	2.30 ± 1.0d	1.73 ± 0.3d	1.03 ± 0.7
Direct bilirubin (mg/dL)	0.2 ± 0.2	3.34 ± 0.5b	0.73 ± 0.1d	0.84 ± 0.1d	0.38 ± 0.1d	0.35 ± 0.3
Indirect bilirubin (mg/dL)	0.85 ± 0.6	5.12 ± 0.8b	1.15 ± 0.6d	1.46 ± 0.6d	1.35 ± 0.2d	0.83 ± 0.2
Total protein (gm/dL)	5.8 ± 0.3	5.45 ± 0.2	6.04 ± 0.2	6.22 ± 0.3	6.05 ± 0.2	5.9 ± 0.2
Fibrinogen (mg/dL)	148.89 ± 3.5	38.24 ± 2.3b	183.04 ± 16.7d	196.99 ± 19.4d	246.4 ± 9.2dfh	149.54 ± 0.3

mean ± SE of 6 observations.

^bP < 0.01 vs normal control;

^cP < 0.05,

^dP < 0.01 vs carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) control group;

^fP < 0.01 vs silymarin and heparin combination group;

^hP < 0.01 vs silymarin and heparin combination group. SGOT: Serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase; SGPT: Serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase; ALP: Alkaline phosphatase.

Table 2 Histopathological scoring of liver sections of control and treated animals

Parameters	Normal control	CCl4 control	Silymarin (100 mg/kg)	Heparin (2000 IU/kg)	Silymarin 100 mg/kg and heparin 2000 IU/kg treated (combination) group	Control treated
Degree (area) of fibrosis	0	4	3	2	1	0
Percentage area of fibrosis	Fibrosis not observed	58	24.7dA	15.7dA,aB	12.9dA,bC	Fibrosis not observed

Data represented as scores. Scoring was performed as 0 representing normal liver histology (no area/absence of fibrotic area). Scoring 1, 2, 3, 4 represent mild, moderate, high and severe degree (area) of fibrosis respectively. ^aP < 0.05; ^bP <0.01; ^dP < 0.001. A: CCl₄ control vs treatment group; B: Silymarin vs heparin 2000 IU/kg treated group; C: Silymarin vs silymarin 100 mg/kg and heparin 2000 IU/kg treated (combination) group.