Abstract:Objective: To evaluate the effects of oxymatrine on liver fibrosis. Methods: Chronic liver damage and liver fibrosis in rats were induced by hypodermically injecting carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) twice a week for 12 weeks, and were simultaneously treated intraperitoneally with oxymatrine once a day. The levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), type IV collagen (Ⅳ-C), hyaluronate (HA), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) were detected at various times, and the degrees of inflammatory activity and fibrogenesis in liver tissues were also observed. Results: The levels of serum ALT, IV-C, HA, and TNFα were lower in the oxymatrine-treated rats than those in the oxymatrine-untreated ones, and so were the degrees of inflammatory activity and fibrogenesis in liver tissues. Conclusion: Oxymatrine can inhibit the inflammatory activity and fibrogenesis in liver tissue.