Expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1  α in liver tissues of patients with chronic hepatitis B

Objective To study the relationship between expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) in liver tissue and disturbances in the liver microcirculatory system in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) .Methods Liver biopsy samples were taken from 81 patients with CHB and five healthy controls.HIF-1α expression was detected in each sample by immunohistochemistry, and the ultrastructure of each sample was observed by transmission electron microscope (TEM) .Multiple comparisons were carried out by the Kruskal-Wallis rank test using a completely randomized design, and pairwise multiple comparisons were carried out by the Nemenyi test.Results Distribution of HIF-1α expression in different liver cell types was closely related to the degree of liver microcirculatory disturbance in patients with CHB.TEM showed that CHB liver samples had erythrocytes aggregated in the sinusoids, collagen fibers deposited in the Disse space, and a basal membrane formed on the surface of the sinusoidal endothelial cells.Conclusion HIF-1α may induce blood vessel fibrosis and sinusoidal capillarization in CHB liver by activating vascular proliferation, which could aggravate microcirculatory disturbances in the liver.