Objective To clarify the expression change of Wnt-induced secreted protein-1 (WISP-1) in experimental liver fibrosis in rats and to determine whether it is correlated with the progress of human chronic liver diseases.Methods Experimental liver fibrosis was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats with CCl4.At the end of the 8 wk, 12wk animals were sacrificed, liver tissue were collected respectively for pathological examination and immunohistochemistry.Serums were collected from 20 individuals, 20 chronic hepatitis B patients and 60 liver cirrhosis patients.The serum levels of WISP-1 were examined with ELISA.HA, LN, PⅢP and CⅣ were examined with radioimmunology assay.Analysis of the correlation between serum WISP-1, and HA, LN, PⅢP, CⅣ were made.Results The expression levels of WISP-1 in the 8wk group (11.0±2.4) and 12wk group (23.8±4.8) are significantly higher than that in the normal group (2.3±2.1) (P<0.05) .The serum WISP-1 level of chronic hepatitis B patients [ (65.5±18.8) ng/ml] and liver cirrhosis [ (71.2±18.2) ng/ml] are markedly higher than that in the healthy control group[ (57.3±15.2) ng/ml] (P<0.05) .At the same time, the serum WISP-1 level is positively correlated with HA (r=0.41) , LN (r=0.53) , PⅢP (r=0.50) , CⅣ (r=0.64) respectively (P<0.05) .Conclusion Aberrant level of WISP-1 expression plays a role in liver fibrogenesis, serum WISP-1 level is correlated with the progress of human chronic liver diseases.It is needed to have further study of the effect and mechanism of WISP-1 in liver fibrogenesis.
DownLoad: