Dietary Supplementation of Blueberry Juice Enhances Hepatic Expression of Metallothionein and Attenuates Liver Fibrosis in Rats
Figure 1
Effect of blueberry juice on CCl4-induced liver fibrosis and liver damage.
Liver fibrosis was induced in rats by subcutaneous injection of CCl4 and subsequently feeding a high-lipid/low-protein diet for 8 weeks with or without daily blueberry juice gavage. After 8 weeks, the degree of hepatic fibrosis was evaluated by Masson staining. The upper panel images show the representative liver histology changes in the livers of the normal control group (A), CCl4-induced hepatic fibrosis group (the model group, B), blueberry juice prevention group (BB group, C), Dan-shao-hua-xian capsule prevention group (DSHX group, D), and blueberry juice+DSHX prevention group (BB+DSHX group, E), Original magnification 100×, arrows indicate collagen fibers. The lower panel illustrates serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels in the five groups of rats as indicated. *p<0.05 vs. the control group, #p<0.05 vs. the model group.