Rapid Communication
Copyright ©2008 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 14, 2008; 14(14): 2213-2217
Published online Apr 14, 2008. doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.2213
Thrombospondin-1 expression correlates with angiogenesis in experimental cirrhosis
Gülsüm Özlem Elpek, Güzide Ayse Gökhan, Sevgi Bozova
Gülsüm Özlem Elpek, Güzide Ayse Gökhan, Sevgi Bozova, Akdeniz University, Medical School, Department of Pathology, Antalya 07070, Turkey
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence to: Dr. Güzide Ayse Gökhan, Akdeniz University, Medical School, Department of Pathology, Antalya 07070, Turkey. guzidegokhan@akdeniz.edu.tr
Telephone: +90-242-2274488
Fax: +90-242-2274488
Received: December 6, 2007
Revised: February 10, 2008
Published online: April 14, 2008
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the significance of Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) expression and its relationship with angiogenesis during experimental fibrosis.

METHODS: Cirrhosis was induced in male Wistar rats by intraperitoneal administration of diethyl nitrosamine (DEN). The serial sections from liver tissues were stained with anti-CD34 and anti-TSP-1 antibodies before being quantitated by light microscopy.

RESULTS: Our results showed that of TSP-1 expression gradually increases according to the severity of fibrosis (GroupIvs group II, Group III and Group IV; Group II vs group III and group IV; group III vs group IV, P < 0.05). Moreover, TSP-1 expression was found to be correlated with angiogenesis (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: The correlative evidence of the link between TSP-1 and fibrosis or angiogenesis provided by this study suggests that besides its role as a strong promoter of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), TSP-1 might have an additional role in liver fibrogenesis by stimulating angiogenesis and this protein could be a potential target to prevent fibrogenesis in chronic inflammatory diseases of the liver.

Keywords: Experimental liver cirrhosis; Immuno-histochemistry; Liver fibrosis; Pathologic angiogenesis; Thrombospondin-1