Correlation of Smad protein expressions with liver fibrosis in patients with chronic HBV infections

VernacularTitle:慢性HBV感染者肝组织中Smad蛋白的表达及其与肝纤维化的相关性
Author: Jianfeng BAO ; Qunwei CHEN ; Jianchun GUO ; Xiaoqing FU ; Junping SHI
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: Chronic hepatitis B; Smad proteins; Liver cirrhosis
From: Chinese Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases 2011;04(6):348-351
CountryChina
Language:Chinese
Abstract: Objective To evaluate the association of Smad2/3,Smad4 and P-Smad3 protein expressions in tissue with liver fibrosis in patients with chronic HBV infections.Methods Liver biopsy was performed to determine the liver fibrosis grades in 131 cases of chronic HBV infections.Immunohistochemistry and semiquantitative analysis were applied to detect the expression of Smad2/3,Smad4 and P-Smad3 proteins in liver tissues.Results Smad2/3,Smad4 and P-Smad3 were detected mainly in fibrous septum,portal areas,myofibroblasts,sinus and cytoplasm in the liver tissue.The expression of Smad2/3,Smad4 and P-Smad3 was increased with the development of fibrosis ( r =0.81,0.58and 0.68,P =0.000),and a strong positive correlation was observed among three proteins (r =0.75,0.87and 0.84,P =0.000).Conclusion The expression of Smad2/3,Smad4 and P-Smad3 is correlated with liver fibrosis in chronic HBV infection,which suggests that the up-regulation of Smad proteins may be involved in the progression of liver fibrosis.