Transcription profiling of rat liver after Ghrelin treatment and bile duct ligation

ABSTRACT: Hepatic fibrosis, the wound-healing response to repeated liver injury, ultimately leads to cirrhosis. There is an urgent need to develop effective antifibrotic therapies. Ghrelin (encoded by Ghrl) is an orexigenic hormone that has pleiotrophic functions including protection against cell death1. Here we investigate whether ghrelin modulates liver fibrosis and protects from acute liver injury. Recombinant ghrelin reduced the fibrogenic response to prolonged bile duct ligation in rats. This effect was associated with decreased liver injury and myofibroblast accumulation as well as attenuation of the altered gene expression profile. Ghrelin also reduced fibrogenic properties in cultured hepatic stellate cells. Moreover, Ghrl-/- mice developed exacerbated hepatic fibrosis and liver damage after

ORGANISM(S): Rattus norvegicus

SUBMITTER: Ramón Bataller 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-13747 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress