Abstract: Objective To investigate the role of the angiogenic gene in the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases（NAFLD） and to elucidate the mechanism of Fuzheng Huayu （FZHY） recipe in alleviating NAFLD related fibrosis in vivo. Methods Healthy male C57BL/6J mice aged 7~8 weeks were adopted to induce NAFLD related fibrosis by feeding methionine-choline deficient （MCD） diet for 8 weeks. Meanwhile， the intervention group was administrated with FZHY. Histological hepatic change in mice such as hepatic steatosis， inflammation and fibrosis were observed by hematoxylin & eosin and Masson trichrome staining. The expression of α-smooth muscle actin （α-SMA），hypoxia-inducible factor-1α （HIF-1α） and its downstream factors e.g. vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） and inducible nitrogen synthase （iNOs） were detected by either quantitative real-time PCR or Western blot or immunohistochemistry. Results The mice in model group were present with macrovesicular steatosis，inflammatory infiltration and spotty and focal necrosis in hepatic lobule，peri-sinusoid fibrosis，and proliferation of fibrous tissues and fibrous septums in portal area，while the hepatic damage，inflammation and fibrosis in the intervention group were ameliorated by FZHY administration；Meanwhile，significantly down-regulated mRNA levels of α-SMA，HIF-1α，VEGF and iNOs in the intervention group were observed [（3.83±0.53） vs. （8.33±2.32），（3.02±0.55 ） vs. （4.50±0.78），（3.23±0.94） vs. （7.40±1.54），（3.60±0.96） vs. （9.94±1.60），respectively，（P<0.01） for all]，and the protein expression were consistent with their mRNA，e.g. [（0.53±0.04） vs. （1.08±0.20），（0.44±0.02） vs. （0.55±0.08），（0.54±0.07）vs.（1.08±0.03），（1.61±0.21）vs.（3.30±0.88），respectively，P<0.05]. Conclusion FZHY recipe down-regulates the expression of HIF-1α and its downstream pro-angiogenic growth factors，VEGF and iNOs，by inhibiting the activation of hepatic stellate cells（HSCs），thus preventing or retarding the development of NAFLD related fibrosis in mice.

Key words: Hepatic fibrosis, Nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases, Traditional Chinese hebal medicine, Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, Mice