Hyperoxia accelerates progression of hepatic fibrosis by up-regulation of transforming growth factor-β expression

Table 1 Degree of hepatic fibrosis

Descriptive diagnosis	Definition
No fibrosis	Normal connective tissue
Portal fibrosis	Fibrous portal expansion
Periportal fibrosis	Periportal fibrosis with short septa extending into lobules or rare porto-portal septa (intact architecture)
Septal fibrosis	Fibrous septa reaching adjacent portal tracts and terminal hepatic venules (architectural distortion, but no obvious cirrhosis)
Cirrhosis	Diffuse nodular formation

Table 2 Difference in the degree of hepatic fibrosis among the three groups

Diagnosis	Number of rats
	Control group	Hypoxia group	Hyperoxia group
	(n = 10)	(n = 10)	(n = 10)
Periportal fibrosis	2	0	0
Septal fibrosis	6	2	1
Cirrhosis	2	81	92

¹P = 0.009 vs control group;

²P = 0.003 vs control group.

Table 3 Quantitative real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction results

Measurement	Control group	Hypoxia group	Hyperoxia group
TGF-β mRNA average Ct	31.51 ± 1.49	30.84 ± 1.07	29.57 ± 0.96
β-actin mRNA average Ct	23.99 ± 1.18	23.35 ± 1.27	22.90 ± 0.72
ΔCt	7.52 ± 0.63	7.49 ± 0.65	6.67 ± 0.67
ΔΔCt	0 ± 0.63	-0.03 ± 0.65	-0.77 ± 0.74
Normalized expression ratio	1.0	1.11	1.92

¹P = 1.000 vs control group,

²P = 0.027 vs control group.