The Effects and Possible Mechanisms of Puerarin to Treat Uterine Fibrosis Induced by Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Rats

BACKGROUND: Tissues fibrosis is caused by ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) and results in organ dysfunction. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether fibrosis occurs after uterine ischemia-reperfusion injury, and to investigate the effects of puerarin (Pur) on the fibrosis process in rats. MATERIAL/METHODS: Twenty-four female Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups (8 in each group): the control group rats only received operation without uterine ischemic, the IRI group and the IRI + Pur group rats received 30-minutes ischemia and 2-weeks of reperfusion. Pur was orally administered at the onset of reperfusion. Picrosirius red staining was used to assess uterine fibrosis. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression levels of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). Western blotting was used to evaluate the expression of chymase, TGF-β, α-SMA, and the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. RESULTS: Uterine fibrosis in the IRI+Pur group was significantly decreased compared with the IRI group. In addition, immunohistochemistry reveals that TGF-β and α-SMA were decreased in the IRI+Pur group compared with the IRI group. Western blotting results showed that Pur significantly suppresses the increase in chymase, α-SMA, TGF-β, and β-catenin expression levels induced by IRI. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that IRI could induce uterine fibrosis and that Pur had an improvement effect on IRI-induced uterine fibrosis by downregulating the activity of mast cell chymase, TGF-β, α-SMA, and the Wnt/β-catenin pathway.