Objective To observe the expressive changes of RhoA and phosphorylated myosin light chain in rat liver tissue undergoing hepatic fibrogenesis.Methods The liver histopathological changes were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining and Masson's trichrome method.Western blot was used to determine the expressions of RhoA and p-MLC(Thr18/Ser19),and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) to determine the expression of RhoA mRNA.Results With the development of hepatic fibrogenesis,the protein expressions of RhoA and p-MLC(Thr18/Ser19) and the mRNA expression of RhoA were significantly increased.RhoA and p-MLC(Thr18/Ser19)correlated with ?-SMA positively,respectively.Conclusion Rho/ROCK signaling pathways are changed in the process hepatic fibrogenesis.

Objective It has been known that hepatopulmonary syndrome(HPS) is related to the imbalance between vasoconstrictors and vasodilators. The aim of the study is to examine the levels of plasma calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) and endothelin(ET) in patients with HPS for exploring their roles in HPS formation. Methods The levels of CGRP and ET were measured by radioimmunoassay in 16 cases of HPS, 30 cases of liver cirrhosis without HPS and 15 normal controls. Results The levels of plasma CGRP ((65?15)pg/ml) and ET((78?21)pg/ml) in 16 cases of HPS were significantly higher than those in liver cirrhosis (CGRP (51?15) pg/ml, ET (60?14) pg/ml) and in healthy controls (CGRP (32?12) pg/ml, ET (36?11) pg/ml) ( P 0.05). Conclusions The increase of plasma CGRP and ET is closely associated with the intrapulmonar vascular dilation of HPS and hypoxemia. The levels of plasma CGRP and ET in liver cirrhosis were significantly higher than those in healthy controls ( P