الفهرس 
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Abstract
This study was designed to evaluate the role of osteopontin in experimentally induced liver fibrosis and to investigate the potential hepatoprotective and hepatotherapeutic effects of two drugs, tranilast and mesalazine in comparison with silymarin on liver fibrosis induced by thioacetamide (TAA) for 6 weeks in male Wistar rats. The hepatoprotective effect of tranilast and mesalazine administration for 4 weeks followed by induction of liver fibrosis using TAA for 6 weeks revealed that both drugs ameliorated the fibrotic effect of TAA as evidenced by significant decrease of AST, ALT, total bilirubin, MDA, OPN, TGF-β1, TNF-α and ɑ-SMA levels combined with a significant increase of total protein, albumin, GSH and SOD levels compared with TAA group. As a hepatoprotective; tranilast showed the best effect. Investigation of the hepatotherapeutic action of tranilast and mesalazine was carried out using TAA for 6 weeks followed by treatment with both drugs for 6 weeks. Significant improvement was observed in all groups as compared with TAA group. However, the hepatotherapeutic effect of mesalazine was the most potent one among other groups.