Wang Mi, Abais Justine M, Meng Nan, Zhang Yang, Ritter Joseph K, Li Pin-Lan, Tang Wang-Xian
Institute of Liver Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jie-Fang Avenue, Wuhan 430030, China.
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Medicine, Richmond, VA 23298, USA.
Free Radic Biol Med. 2014 Jun;71:109-120. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2014.03.015. Epub 2014 Mar 19.
The endocannabinoid system (CS) has been implicated in the development of hepatic fibrosis such as schistosomiasis-associated liver fibrosis (SSLF). However, the mechanisms mediating the action of the CS in hepatic fibrosis are unclear. The present study hypothesized that Schistosoma J. infection upregulates cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) due to activation of NADPH oxidase leading to a fibrotic phenotype in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). The SSLF model was developed by infecting mice with Schistosoma J. cercariae in the skin, and HSCs from control and infected mice were then isolated, cultured, and confirmed by analysis of HSC markers α-SMA and desmin. CB1 significantly increased in HSCs isolated from mice with SSLF, which was accompanied by a greater expression of fibrotic markers α-SMA, collagen I, and TIMP-1. CB1 upregulation and enhanced fibrotic changes were also observed in normal HSCs treated with soluble egg antigen (SEA) from Schistosoma J. Electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis further demonstrated that superoxide (O2(-)) production was increased in infected HSCs or normal HSCs stimulated with SEA. Both Nox4 and Nox1 siRNA prevented SEA-induced upregulation of CB1, α-SMA, collagen I, and TIMP-1 by inhibition of O2(-) production, while CB1 siRNA blocked SEA-induced fibrotic changes without effect on O2(-) production in these HSCs. Taken together, these data suggest that the fibrotic activation of HSCs on Schistosoma J. infection or SEA stimulation is associated with NADPH oxidase-mediated redox regulation of CB1 expression, which may be a triggering mechanism for SSLF.
内源性大麻素系统(CS)与肝纤维化的发生发展有关,如血吸虫病相关性肝纤维化(SSLF)。然而,CS在肝纤维化中发挥作用的机制尚不清楚。本研究假设,日本血吸虫感染通过激活NADPH氧化酶上调大麻素受体1(CB1),导致肝星状细胞(HSCs)出现纤维化表型。通过经皮肤感染日本血吸虫尾蚴建立SSLF模型,然后分离、培养来自对照小鼠和感染小鼠的HSCs,并通过分析HSC标志物α-SMA和结蛋白进行确认。从患有SSLF的小鼠中分离出的HSCs中,CB1显著增加,同时纤维化标志物α-SMA、I型胶原蛋白和TIMP-1的表达也更高。在用来自日本血吸虫的可溶性虫卵抗原(SEA)处理的正常HSCs中也观察到CB1上调和纤维化变化增强。电子自旋共振(ESR)分析进一步表明,受感染的HSCs或用SEA刺激的正常HSCs中超氧化物(O2(-))的产生增加。Nox4和Nox1 siRNA均通过抑制O2(-)的产生,阻止了SEA诱导的CB1、α-SMA、I型胶原蛋白和TIMP-1的上调,而CB1 siRNA阻断了SEA诱导的纤维化变化,且对这些HSCs中O2(-)的产生没有影响。综上所述,这些数据表明,日本血吸虫感染或SEA刺激后HSCs的纤维化激活与NADPH氧化酶介导的CB1表达的氧化还原调节有关,这可能是SSLF的触发机制。