| 19424597 |
Huang Q, Xie Q, Shi CC, Xiang XG, Lin LY, Gong BD, Zhao GD, Wang H, Jia NN: Expression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in CCL4-induced rat liver fibrosis. Int J Mol Med. 2009 Jun;23(6):717-23.
The renin angiotensin system (RAS) plays a major role in liver fibrosis. A novel homologue of angiotensin converting enzyme, ACE2, was identified as a negative regulator of RAS as it degrades Ang II to Ang1-7. We investigated in vivo the expression of ACE2 in liver fibrosis. We evaluated the relationship between biochemical variables and liver tissue expression of ACE2, the correlation between a histological assessment of liver fibrosis and liver tissue expression of ACE2. Male SD rats were randomly divided into a CCL4 group which received injections of CCL4 and the control group which received injections of olive oil. Liver pathology was examined by H&E; and Sirius red staining, and real-time PCR was performed to determine the gene expression levels of ACE2 and ACE. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that ACE2 mRNA was higher at the two-, four-, and six-week time points, respectively (p <0.01). Similarly, hepatic ACE mRNA was significantly increased after CCL4 injection. There was a significant correlation between ACE and ACE2 gene expression (r=0.750, P <0.001). ACE2 gene expression strongly correlated with ALT (r=0.669, P <0.0001) and AST levels (r=0.815, P <0.0001). There was a significant correlation between circulating ACE2 and histological scores of liver fibrosis. ACE2 and ACE gene expression correlated with the ISHAK score (r=0.850, P <0.001; r=0.806, P <0.001). There was a significant relationship between ACE2 gene expression and the degree of liver fibrosis. ACE2 plays a crucial role in liver fibrogenesis. |
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