Inhibitory effect of angiotensin (1-7) on hepatic sinusoid angiogenesis in bile duct ligation-induced hepatic fibrosis of rats.
- Author:
Zuo-wei NING
1
;
Wen-yong ZHANG
;
Yang LI
;
Shuang-ming CAI
;
Li-li ZHANG
;
Xu LI
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH: Angiotensin I; therapeutic use; Animals; Bile Ducts; surgery; Hepatic Veins; pathology; Ligation; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental; drug therapy; pathology; Male; Neovascularization, Pathologic; drug therapy; Peptide Fragments; therapeutic use; Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; metabolism; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; metabolism; von Willebrand Factor; metabolism
- From: Chinese Journal of Hepatology 2013;21(12):907-913
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVETo explore the inhibitory effect of angiotensin (1-7) on hepatic sinusoid angiogenesis using a rat model of hepatic fibrosis.
METHODSEighteen male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three equal groups for sham operation (untreated/uninduced control group), bile duct ligation (BDL) (untreated model group), or BDL with angiotensin (1-7) treatment (treated model group). Histological analysis was used to assess the liver fibrosis score, by hematoxylin-eosin staining, and the level of fibrosis, by Masson's trichrome staining. Immunohistochemistry, western blotting, and immunofluorescence were used to assess the expression of the angiogenesis markers vWF, VEGFA, and CD31.
RESULTSCompared with the untreated/uninduced control group, the untreated BDL model group showed remarkably higher fibrosis score, area of the type I collagen expression, and expression levels of vWF, VEGFA, and CD31. However, the angiotensin (1-7)-treatment protected against the BLD-related changes, as evidenced by decreased robustness and down-regulation of the corresponding indicators. Moreover, the expression level of VEGFA was highly correlated to the expression level of vWF (r = 0.956, P = 0.000).
CONCLUSIONBDL-induced hepatic fibrosis is accompanied by significant increases in angiogenesis-related factors, but angiotensin (1-7) treatment may inhibit hepatic sinusoid angiogenesis during the liver fibrosis process.
