Antifibrotic activity of coumarins from Cnidium monnieri fruits in HSC-T6 hepatic stellate cells.

The CHCl(3) fraction of Cnidium monnieri fruits significantly inhibited the proliferation of hepatic stellate cells in an in-vitro assay system employing HSC-T6 hepatic stellate cell lines. Activity-guided fractionation of the CHCl(3) fraction of C. monnieri led to the isolation of ten coumarins: osthol (1), meranzin (2), auraptenol (3), meranzin hydrate (4), 7-hydroxy-8-methoxy coumarin (5), imperatorin (6), xanthotoxol (7), xanthotoxin (8), bergapten (9) and isopimpinellin (10). Of these, compounds 1 and 6 significantly inhibited proliferation of HSCs in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. In addition, compounds 1 and 6 significantly reduced collagen content in HSC-T6 cells.