Abstract:To investigate the effect of anti-liver fibrosis agent Silibinin Capsules alone or combined with Ganlong Capsules on proliferative activity of rat hepatic stellate cells (HSC), and to evaluate the effect of Ganlong Capsules on the in vitro anti-liver fibrosis activity of Silibinin. Methods Two-factors and five-levels full experiment was applied for single use or combined use of Silibinin Capsules with different dosages of Ganlong Capsules in HSC at different time points. Tetrazolium salt colorimetric assay (MTT) was utilized to determine the effect of Ganlong Capsules on HSC proliferation. Results Combination of Silibinin Capsules and Ganlong Capsules enhanced the suppression effect of Silibinin Capsules on HSC proliferation. The effect of Silibinin Capsules was obviously increased especially at a dosage of 0.063 mg/ml, 0.125 mg/ml or 0.250 mg/ml and in combination with Ganlong Capsules, and the differences were significant when compared with the Silibinin Capsule single drug groups (p < 0.05). Compared with the IC50 value of Silibinin Capsules alone, the IC50 values of Silibinin Capsules combined with Ganlong Capsules at different dosages decreased at 24, 48 and 72 h. Moreover, the combination indexes (CI) of the combined drug therapies were all less than 1.0, which illustrated synergistic effect and enhanced the suppression effect of Silibinin Capsules on HSC. Conclusions Ganlong Capsules can enhance the anti-liver fibrosis effect of Silibinin Capsules.