The roles of leptin and adiponectin: a novel paradigm in adipocytokine regulation of liver fibrosis and stellate cell biology.

ABSTRACT: Although leptin is a key adipokine promoting liver fibrosis, adiponectin may prevent liver injury. To determine the role of these adipokines in liver fibrosis and to understand their expression in vivo, fa/fa rats and their lean littermates were subjected to bile duct ligation (BDL). Histomorphometry for collagen and alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) revealed that lean rats, but not fa/fa littermates, had significant fibrosis with abundant hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation. The lean-BDL rats had significantly higher leptin concentrations in the hepatic vein than lean sham-operated, fa/fa BDL, or fa/fa sham-operated rats. Co-localization of leptin and alpha-SMA in activated HSCs was observed by immunohistochemistry. Real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and West

SUBMITTER: Ding X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1602420 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature