Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Pivot Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Target Concepts:
Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Query: UMLS:C0023890 (
cirrhosis
)
42,195
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
The haem oxygenase (HO)/carbon monoxide (CO) system has been implicated as a modulator of hepatobiliary function. This study investigated HO expression in the process of
cirrhosis
development, as well as its relationship to nitric oxide synthase (NOS).
Liver cirrhosis
was induced in rats by chronic bile duct ligation (BDL). HO mRNA expression was evaluated by competitive RT-PCR, while protein expression was determined by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. In liver tissue where
cirrhosis
had fully developed, the expression levels of HO-1 were greatly enhanced at both mRNA and protein level compared with sham livers. Immunohistochemistry showed that HO-1 was induced in hepatocytes and enhanced in some of the Kupffer-like cells in BDL livers. In contrast, there was no difference between the sham and the BDL livers for the expression levels of HO-2. Interestingly, administration of the NOS inhibitor aminoguanidine (AG) or N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester inhibited HO-1 expression. To study further the role of HO-1 in the development of
liver cirrhosis
, hepatocytes were isolated from the rats at different time points after BDL operation. HO-1 was expressed in hepatocytes at high levels during the early onset of
cirrhosis
but dropped slightly at a later stage of
cirrhosis
.
Zinc protoporphyrin
IX (ZnPP), an HO inhibitor, blocked HO-1 expression in hepatocytes from BDL cirrhotic rats, but enhanced the activity of inducible NOS (iNOS) in BDL hepatocytes. In conclusion, HO-1 was induced in the hepatocytes of rats undergoing
cirrhosis
, suggesting that HO-1 plays a role in the development of
liver cirrhosis
. Induction of HO-1 may be mediated partially by iNOS. However, once it is induced, HO-1 may be important in modulating iNOS activity, thus playing a protective role in
liver cirrhosis
.
...
PMID:Expression of haem oxygenase in cirrhotic rat liver. 1257 34
