PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Xu, Xi-Ming
AU  - Yuan, Guang-Jin
AU  - Deng, Jun-Jian
AU  - Wu, Yao-Gui
AU  - Ge, Wei
AU  - Song, Qi-Bing
TI  - Hepatic oval cells activated by hepatocyte apoptosis in diethylnitrosamine-induced rat liver cirrhosis
DP  - 2010 May 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 490--494
VI  - 31
IP  - 5
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/31/5/490.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/31/5/490.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2010 May 01; 31
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether hepatic oval cells are activated in diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced rat liver cirrhosis, and to explore its mechanism.METHODS: Liver cirrhosis was induced in rats (n=8) by weekly intraperitoneal injections of DEN at a dose of 50mg/kg body weight for 12 weeks followed by a 2-week wash out period. Rats (n=5) that received isovolumic vehicle served as the control group. Liver pathology was examined. Apoptotic hepatocytes were identified and quantified by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay. Oval cells were detected using immunohistochemical staining for pyruvate kinase type M2 (M2PK) and cytokeratin 19 (CK19). The work was carried out at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China from February to December 2009.RESULTS: Liver cirrhosis developed in rats subjected to DEN administration. The TUNEL and morphology assay showed that a substantial number of hepatocytes underwent apoptosis. The apoptotic index in rats subjected to DEN administration (0.75 – 0.15) was much higher than normal control rats (0.10 – 0.05). Both CK19 and M2PK were moderately expressed in the rat liver cirrhosis, and the expression was dispersed or forming small cords in the liver; but the expression was hardly detected in the liver tissue of normal control rats.CONCLUSION: In the DEN-induced rat liver cirrhosis, oval cells are activated and stimulated to proliferation, the mechanism of which may be related to substantial hepatocyte apoptosis in the model.