Uso potencial de extrato de planta medicinal na reversão do processo fibrosante em células estreladas hepáticas

• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Caio Mateus da [UNESP]
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Tipo de documento: Trabalho de conclusão de curso
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/11449/155832; http://www.athena.biblioteca.unesp.br/exlibris/bd/capelo/2017-08-30/000889947.pdf
• topic: Biologia molecular; Figado - Doenças; Fígado - Cirrose; Células hepáticas; Plantas medicinais; Extratos vegetais

The liver-related diseases are considered a serious health problem worldwide and in more advanced stages hepatic fibrosis may establish a clinical condition of cirrhosis. The hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) have the ability to store retinol in lipid droplets within the cytoplasm and assist in regulating extracellular matrix compounds. Once the liver is damaged, in response to pro-fibrotic processes the HSCs initiate metabolic changes acquiring an activated phenotype with increased synthesis and deposition of collagen and extracellular matrix proteins. The utilization of medicinal plants might be more cost effective and comes close to popular culture application. Against this background, the development of this study aimed to evaluate the cellular and molecular effects of Baccharis dracunculifolia and Peumus boldus, in the reversal of hepatic fibrotic process in LX-2 stellate cell lines. Thereby, the profile of gene expression were assessed by quantitative and conventional PCR in genes related to lipid metabolism, classic markers of fibrotic process, oxidative stress and apoptosis events. Cell morphological changes were assessed by fluorescence microscopy assays and changes in actin filaments distribution were observed; in addition, bright-field microscopy was performed to investigate changes in intracellular lipid droplets distribution. The analyses of the effect of B. dracunculifolia extract demonstrated its protective capacity on regulating the activity of apoptosis in gene expression assays. In addition, it was observed that the plant extract was able to rearrange the cytoskeleton assisting in the organization and distribution of actin filaments. In turn, the P. boldus extract was able to regulate genes correlated to the lipid metabolism, which increased the number of lipid droplets towards LX-2 activated cells. In conclusion, despite the two plants extract did not act in reversion...