Therapeutic Effects of Albumin-Fused BMP7 on 2 Experimental Models of Liver Fibrosis.

Despite the fact that liver fibrosis is an intractable disease with a poor prognosis, effective therapeutic agents are not available. In this study, we focused on bone morphogenetic factor 7 (BMP7) that inhibits transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signaling, which is involved in liver fibrosis. We prepared an albumin-fused BMP7 (HSA-BMP7) that is retained in the blood and evaluated its inhibitory effect on liver fibrosis. Bile duct ligated mice were used as an acute liver fibrosis model, and carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis mice were used as a chronic model. All mice were administered HSA-BMP7 once per week. In the mice with bile duct ligation, the administration of HSA-BMP7 significantly suppressed the infiltration of inflammatory cells, the area of fibrosis around the bile duct, and decreased in the level of hydroxyproline as compared with saline administration. The mRNA expression of TGF-β and its downstream fibrosis-associated genes (α-SMA and Col1a2) were also suppressed by the administration of HSA-BMP7. In the carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis mice, the HSA-BMP7 administration significantly decreased the hepatic fibrosis area and the level of hydroxyproline. Based on these results, it appears that HSA-BMP7 has the potential for serving as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of liver fibrosis.