AIM:To explore the possible mechanism why drinkingMaotai liquor dose not cause hepatic fibrosis.METHODS:After being fed with Maotai for 56 daysconsecutively,the male SD rats were decollated fordetecting the biological indexes,and the livers wereharvested to examine the liver indexes and the level ofhepatic metallothioneins(MT).Hepatic stellate cells(HSC)proliferation and collagen generation were also observed.RESULTS:Hepatic MT contents were 216.0 ng·g~(-1)±10.8 ng·g~(-1)in the rats of Maotai group and 10.0 ng·g~(-1)±2.8 ng·g~(-1)inthe normal control group,which was increased obviously inMaotain group(P<0.05).In the rats with grade CCL_2poisoning induced by Maotai,hepatic MT content was 304.8ng·g~(-1)±12.1 ng·g~(-1)whereas in the controls with grade CCL_4poisoning,it was 126.4 ng·g~(-1)±4.8 ng·g~(-1)(P<0.05).MDAwas 102.0 nmol·g~(-1)±3.4 nmol·g~(-1)in Maotai group and 150.8nmol·g~(-1)±6.7 nmol·g~(-1)in the control group(P<0.05).When both of the groups were suffering from grade CCL_4poisoning,hepatic MT contents was negatively correlatedwith MDA(r=-0.8023,n=20,P<0.01).The 570 nmAvalues of each tube with HSC regeneration at concentrationsof 0,10,50,100,and 200g·L~(-1)of Maotai were 0.818,0.742,0.736,0.72,0.682,and 0.604,respectively.From theconcentration of 10 g·L~(-1),Maotai began to show obviousinhibitory effects against HSC,and the inhibition wasconcentration-dependent(P<0.05,P<0.01).Type Icollagen contents in HSC were 61.4,59.9,50.1,49.2,48.7,34.4μg·g~(-1)at concentrations of 0,10,50,100,and 200 g·L~(-1)of Maotai.At the concentration of 100-200 g·L~(-1),Maotai hadobvious inhibitory effect against the secretion of type Icollagen(P<0.05).Gene expression analysis wasconducted on cells with Maotai concentrations of 0,50,100g·L~(-1)respectively and the ash values of β-actin geneexpression ware 0.88,0.74,and 0.59,respectively,suggesting that at the concentmUon of 100 g·L~(-1),Maotaicould obviously inhibit gene expression of type I procollagen(P<0.05),but the effect was not obvious at theconcentration of 50 g·L~(-1)(P>0.05).At the concentration of 10 g·L~(-1),HSC growth in vitro inhibition ratas were 16.4±2.3 inMaotai group and -8.4±2.3 in the control group(P<0.05).CONCLUSION:Maotai liquor can increase metatlothioneins inthe liver and inhibit the activation of HSC and the synthesisof collagen in many aspects,which might be the mechanismthat Maotai liquor interferes in the hepatic fibrosis. AIM: To explore the possible mechanism why drinkingMaotai liquor dose not cause hepatic fibrosis. METHODS: After being fed with Maotai for 56 daysconsecutively, the male SD rats were decollated fordetecting the biological indexes, and the livers wereharvested to examine the liver indexes and the level of hepatic stellate cells (MT) .Hepatic stellate cells (HSC) proliferation and collagen generation were also observed .RESULTS: Hepatic MT contents were 216.0 ng · g -1 ± 10.8 ng · g -1 in the rats of Maotai group and 10.0 ng · g -1 ± 2.8 ng · g -1 inthe normal control group, which was increased obviously in Maotain group (P <0.05) .In the rats with grade CCL_2poisoning induced by Maotai, hepatic MT content was 304.8ng · g -1 ± 12.1 ng · g -1 (P <0.05), while the controls with grade CCL_4poisoning, it was 126.4 ng · g -1 ± 4.8 ng · g -1 (P <0.05) .MDAwas 102.0 nmol · g -1 ± 3.4 nmol · g -1 in Maotai group and 150.8 nmol · g -1 ± 6.7 nmol · g -1 in the control group (P <0.05) .When both of the groups were suffering fr om grade CCL_4poisoning, hepatic MT contents were negatively correlated with MDA (r = -0.8023, n = 20, P <0.01) .570 nm Avalues ​​of each tube with HSC regeneration at concentrations of 0, 10, 50, 100, and 200 g · L - 1) of Maotai were 0.818,0.742,0.736,0.72,0.682, and 0.604, respectively. Promoting the concentration of 10 g · L -1, Maotai began to show obvious inhibition effects against HSC, and the inhibition was concentration-dependent (P <0.05, P <0.01) .Type Icollagen contents in HSC were 61.4,59.9,50.1,49.2,48.7,34.4μg · g -1 at concentrations of 0, 10, 50, 100, and 200 g · L ~ 1) of Maotai. At the concentration of 100-200 g · L -1, Maotai hadobvious inhibitory effect against the secretion of type Icollagen (P <0.05) .Gene expression analysis wasconducted on cells with Maotai concentrations of 0, 50, 100 g · L ~ (-1) respectively and the ash values ​​of β-actin gene expression ware 0.88,0.74, and 0.59, respectively, suggesting that at the concentmUon of 100 g · L -1, Maotaicould nothibiting gene expression type I procollagen (P <0.05), but the effect wasnot obvious at the concentration of 50 g · L -1 (P> 0.05) .At the concentration of 10 g · L -1, HSC growth in vitro inhibition ratas were 16.4 ± 2.3 in Maotai group and -8.4 ± 2.3 in the control group (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: Maotai liquor can increase metatlothioneins inthe liver and inhibit the activation of HSC and the synthesis of collagen in many aspects, which might be the mechanism of the Maotai liquor interferes in the hepatic fibrosis.