Background: This study aimed to compare the performance of gadoxetic acid -enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and sonoelastography in evaluating chemopreventive effects of Sho-Saiko-To (SST) in thioacetamide (TAA)-induced early liver fibrosis in rats.
Materials And Methods: Ten of Sprague-Dawley rats receiving TAA (200 mg/kg of body weight) intraperitoneal injection were divided into three groups: Group 1 (TAA only, n = 3), Group 2 (TAA +0.25 g/kg SST, n = 4) and Group 3 (TAA+1 g/kg SST, n = 3). Core needle liver biopsy at week 2 and liver specimens after sacrifice at week 6 confirmed liver fibrosis using histological examinations, including Sirius red staining, Ishak and Metavir scoring systems. Gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI and shear-wave sonoelastography were employed to evaluate liver fibrosis. The expression of hepatic transporter organic anion transporter 1 (Oatp1), multidrug-resistant protein 2 (Mrp2) and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-Sma) were also analyzed in each group by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blot.
Results: According to histological grading by Sirius red staining, Ishak scores of liver fibrosis in Groups 1, 2 and 3 were 3, 2 and 1, respectively. As shown in gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI, the ratio of relative enhancement was significantly lower in Group 1 (1.87 ± 0.21) than in Group 2 of low-dose (2.82 ± 0.25) and Group 3 of high-dose (2.72 ± 0.12) SST treatment at 10 minutes after gadoxetic acid intravenous injection (p < 0.05). Sonoelastography showed that the mean difference before and after experiments in Groups 1, 2 and 3 were 4.66 ± 0.1, 4.4 ± 0.57 and 3 ± 0.4 KPa (p < 0.1), respectively. Chemopreventive effects of SST reduced the Mrp2 protein level (p < 0.01) but not Oatp1 and α-Sma levels.
Conclusion: Sonoelastography and gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI could monitor the treatment effect of SST in an animal model of early hepatic fibrosis.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4260946 | PMC |
| http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0114756 | PLOS |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Clinical Relevancies of Sarcopenic Obesity in Patients with Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MASLD).
Dig Dis Sci
January 2025
Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng Li Road, Tainan, 70401, Taiwan.
Aim: Sarcopenic obesity (SO) is associated with adverse outcomes in diseased patients. This study aimed to examine the prevalence and risks associated with SO, with a focus on the impact of SO on cardiovascular risk in patients with MASLD.
Materials And Methods: In this cross-sectional study, patients with MASLD were prospectively enrolled.
Lactulose use among patients with alcohol-related liver cirrhosis as a surrogate marker of hepatic encephalopathy: prevalence and association with mortality - a Danish nationwide cohort study.
Metab Brain Dis
January 2025
Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus N, Denmark.
Background & Aims: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE), one of the most serious prognostic factors for mortality in alcohol-related cirrhosis (ALD cirrhosis), is not recorded in Danish healthcare registries. However, treatment of HE with lactulose, the universal first-line treatment, can be identified through data on filled prescriptions. This study aimed to investigate if lactulose can be used as a surrogate marker of HE.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCirculating chemokine levels and receptor polymorphisms have potential as biomarkers for fibrosis stages in patients with chronic hepatitis C infection.
Mol Biol Rep
January 2025
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Gastroenterology, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey.
Background: Chemokines and their receptors, which regulate lymphoid organ development and immune cell trafficking, are integral to the mechanisms underlying viral control, hepatic inflammation, and liver damage in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection. This study explores the potential relationship between serum chemokine levels/polymorphisms and hepatitis C infection in affected individuals, with a particular focus on their utility as biomarkers across different stages of fibrosis.
Methods And Results: Serum levels of the chemokines CXCL11, CXCL12, and CXCL16 were measured in patients with mild/moderate and advanced fibrosis due to CHC, as well as in healthy controls, using the ELISA method.
Editorial: Safety and Effects of Direct Oral Anticoagulants for Portal Vein Thrombosis.
Aliment Pharmacol Ther
January 2025
Gastro Unit, Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre, Denmark.
The association of frailty and bedside body composition tools with total body potassium and body cell mass: a pilot study in adults with cirrhosis.
Eur J Clin Nutr
January 2025
Division of Gastroenterology (Liver Unit), Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
The accurate assessment of body composition in cirrhosis is challenging as fluid accumulation affects most techniques. The whole-body counter is a state-of-the-art method that measures total body potassium (TBK) unbiased by fluid, from which body cell mass (BCM) is derived. This pilot study in 20 patients with cirrhosis evaluated bedside tools including the liver frailty index (LFI), bioimpedance analysis-based phase angle, calf circumference (CC), and BMI (body mass index)/edema-adjusted CC, and explored their association with TBK and BCM.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!