Effects of Saikosaponin-D on syndecan-2,matrix metalloproteinases and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 in rats with hepatocellular carcinoma

OBJECTIVE：To investigate effects of Saikosaponin D（SSd） on syndecan-2,matrix metalloproteinases（MMPs） and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2（TIMP-2） in livers of rat with hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC）.METHODS：Male SD rats were divided into control（n=10）,model（n=20） and SSd（n=20） groups,and model and SSd groups given intragastric 0.2%（w/v） N-diethylnitrosamine to induce HCC.SSd group received 0.03%（w/v） SSd in saline.Liver samples were analysed immunohistochemically for syndecan-2,MMP-2,MMP-13 and TIMP-2 at 16 weeks.RESULTS：The model group had more malignant nodules than the SSd group;all model-group HCC cells were grade III;SSd-group HCC cells were grades I-II.Controls showed normal hepatic cell phenotypes and no syndecan-2 ＋ staining.Syndecan-2 ＋ staining was greater in the model group（35.2%,P≤0.001） than in controls or the SSd group（16.5%,P ≤ 0.001）.The model group had more intense MMP-2 ＋ staining than controls（0.37 vs 0.27,P≤0.01） or the SSd group（0.31 vs 0.37,P≤0.05）;and higher MMP-13 ＋ staining（72.55%） than in controls（12.55%,P≤0.001） and SSd group（20.18%,P≤0.01）.The model group also had more TIMP-2 ＋ staining（57.2%） than controls（20.9%,P≤0.001） and SSd group（22.7%,P≤0.001）.Controls and SSd group showed no difference in TIMP-2 ＋ rates.CONCLUSION：SSd inhibited HCC development,and downregulated expression of syndecan-2,MMP-2,MMP-13 and TIMP-2 in rat HCC liver tissue.