Dynamic Observation of Liver Fibrosis in Mice Infected with Schistosoma japonica

• Published in: Journal of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Medical sciences Vol. 25; no. 5; pp. 530 - 532
• Main Author: 李淑莉 曾令兰 罗端德 刘薇 贺永文
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: China Department of Infectious Diseases, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China 2005
• Subjects: Animals; Cytokines - metabolism; Liver - parasitology; Liver - pathology; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental - etiology; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental - metabolism; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental - parasitology; Male; Mice; Ovum; Random Allocation; Schistosomiasis japonica - complications; Schistosomiasis japonica - metabolism; Th1 Cells - metabolism; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - metabolism; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - pharmacology; 动物实验; 感染性疾病; 植物药; 肝纤维化; TNF-α; liver fibrosis; Schistosomajaponicum
• ISSN: 1672-0733; 1993-1352
• DOI: 10.1007/bf02896008

Summary： The expression of TNF-α in the liver at different periods post Schistosoma japonica infection and the effect on liver fibrosis after supplementary injection of these cytokines were investigated. The mice infected with schistosome cercariae were divided into 3 groups., normal control group, TNF-α-untreated infection group and TNF-α-treated infection group. ABC immunohistochemistry and pathologic image multimedia quantification system were applied to dynamically detect the activity of TNF-α. The results showed that the levels of TNF-α in the liver in TNF-α-untreated infection group were slowly decreased with prolongation of infection time （from 8th, 11th, 14th to 18th week）, while in the TNF-α-treated infection group, those were increased significantly after intraperitoneal injection of TNF-α at 6th week after infection. At first to 8th week after the final injection of TNF-α, the intrahepatic TNF-α levels in the TNF-α-treated infection group were significantly higher than in the other two groups （P〈0.01）, and the granulomatous inflammation and fibrosis in the liver were also milder in the normal control group. It was concluded that at the early stage of Schistosoma japonica infection mouse liver mainly released Thl cytokine and TNF-α from Thl activated macrophages. Six weeks after infection （post egg deposition）, exogenous supplement with intraperitoneal injection of TNF-α could induce the enhanced expression of Thl cytokines and alleviate the liver granulomatous inflammation and fibrosis.