AIM: To investigate the effect of interferon-α (IFN-α) onpreventing or reversing hepatic fibrosis in rat experimental model induced by CCl4.METHODS: One hundred and ten Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five gro...AIM: To investigate the effect of interferon-α (IFN-α) onpreventing or reversing hepatic fibrosis in rat experimental model induced by CCl4.METHODS: One hundred and ten Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups: group A (normal controls, n = 18), group B (fibrotic model controls, n = 22), group C (IFN-α prevention, n = 22) initially treated with intramuscular injection of IFN-α in saline daily at the doses of 1×105 U for 6 wk, group D (IFN-α treatment, n = 24) treated with intra-muscular injection of IFN-α in saline daily atthe doses of 1×105 U for 6 wk after the first 6 wk, group E (0.9% sodium chloride treatment control, n = 24) treated with intra-muscular injection of 0.01 mL/kg daily for 6 wk after the first 6 wk. At the end of the experiment, all rats of each group were killed. Samples of the liver obtained by biopsy were subjected to histological, immunohistochemicaland electron microscopic studies for the expressions of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF- β1) and α-smoothmuscle actin (α-SMA).RESULTS: The expressions of TGF-β1, the number of activated hepatic stellate cells and α-SMA in hepatic tissue of group C were significantly less than those of group B (P＜0.01). The degree of fibrosis score in group B was also significantly less than that of group C under light microscope (P＜0.01).CONCLUSION: IFN-α can inhibit the production of TGF-β1,decrease HSC activation and stimulate its apoptosis.展开更多
文摘AIM: To investigate the effect of interferon-α (IFN-α) onpreventing or reversing hepatic fibrosis in rat experimental model induced by CCl4.METHODS: One hundred and ten Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups: group A (normal controls, n = 18), group B (fibrotic model controls, n = 22), group C (IFN-α prevention, n = 22) initially treated with intramuscular injection of IFN-α in saline daily at the doses of 1×105 U for 6 wk, group D (IFN-α treatment, n = 24) treated with intra-muscular injection of IFN-α in saline daily atthe doses of 1×105 U for 6 wk after the first 6 wk, group E (0.9% sodium chloride treatment control, n = 24) treated with intra-muscular injection of 0.01 mL/kg daily for 6 wk after the first 6 wk. At the end of the experiment, all rats of each group were killed. Samples of the liver obtained by biopsy were subjected to histological, immunohistochemicaland electron microscopic studies for the expressions of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF- β1) and α-smoothmuscle actin (α-SMA).RESULTS: The expressions of TGF-β1, the number of activated hepatic stellate cells and α-SMA in hepatic tissue of group C were significantly less than those of group B (P＜0.01). The degree of fibrosis score in group B was also significantly less than that of group C under light microscope (P＜0.01).CONCLUSION: IFN-α can inhibit the production of TGF-β1,decrease HSC activation and stimulate its apoptosis.
