Pereira RM, Santos RASD, Dias FLDC, Teixeira MM, Silva ACSE. Renin-angiotensin system in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis. World J Gastroenterol 2009; 15(21): 2579-2586 [PMID: 19496186 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.15.2579]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ana Cristina Simões e Silva, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Avenue Alfredo Balena, 190, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 30130-100, Brazil. acssilva@hotmail.com
Article-Type of This Article
Review
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World J Gastroenterol. Jun 7, 2009; 15(21): 2579-2586 Published online Jun 7, 2009. doi: 10.3748/wjg.15.2579
Renin-angiotensin system in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis
Regina Maria Pereira, Robson Augusto Souza dos Santos, Filipi Leles da Costa Dias, Mauro Martins Teixeira, Ana Cristina Simões e Silva
Regina Maria Pereira, Filipi Leles da Costa Dias, Ana Cristina Simões e Silva, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Avenue Alfredo Balena, 190, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 30130-100, Brazil
Robson Augusto Souza dos Santos, Laboratory of Hypertension, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Avenue Antonio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 30150-281, Brazil
Mauro Martins Teixeira, Laboratory of Immunopharmacology, Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Avenue Antonio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 30150-281, Brazil
Author contributions: Pereira RM, da Costa Dias FL and Simões e Silva AC wrote the review article; dos Santos RAS, da Costa Dias FL and Teixeira MM helped collect data; Pereira RM, dos Santos RAS, Teixeira MM and Simões e Silva AC analyzed the data.
Correspondence to: Ana Cristina Simões e Silva, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Avenue Alfredo Balena, 190, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 30130-100, Brazil. acssilva@hotmail.com
Telephone: +55-31-30248687
Fax: +55-31-34099770
Received: November 29, 2008 Revised: May 5, 2009 Accepted: May 12, 2009 Published online: June 7, 2009
Abstract
Hepatic fibrosis is considered a common response to many chronic hepatic injuries. It is a multifunctional process that involves several cell types, cytokines, chemokines and growth factors leading to a disruption of homeostatic mechanisms that maintain the liver ecosystem. In spite of many studies regarding the development of fibrosis, the understanding of the pathogenesis remains obscure. The hepatic tissue remodeling process is highly complex, resulting from the balance between collagen degradation and synthesis. Among the many mediators that take part in this process, the components of the Renin angiotensin system (RAS) have progressively assumed an important role. Angiotensin (Ang) II acts as a profibrotic mediator and Ang-(1-7), the newly recognized RAS component, appears to exert a counter-regulatory role in liver tissue. We briefly review the liver fibrosis process and current aspects of the RAS. This review also aims to discuss some experimental evidence regarding the participation of RAS mediators in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis, focusing on the putative role of the ACE2-Ang-(1-7)-Mas receptor axis.
