Theocharis S E, Margeli A P, Goutas N D, Horti M G, Karkantaris C S, Kittas C N
Department of Histology and Embryology, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece.
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 1996 Aug;8(8):805-9.
To document whether the administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) enhances the impaired regenerative response of hepatocytes to partial hepatectomy (PH), in cadmium-pretreated partially hepatectomized rats.
Rats were injected intraperioneally with 2.5 mg CdCl2/kg body weight, 24h before PH. G-CSF (1500 or 150 micrograms/kg body weight) or saline was administered intraperitoneally in cadmium-pretreated partially hepatectomized rats at the same time as PH. The liver regenerative process was estimated 24h after PH. [3H] thymidine incorporation into liver DNA, liver thymidine kinase (TK) activity, mitotic index and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunostaining were used as indices of hepatocyte proliferation.
G-CSF administration in cadmium-pretreated partially hepatectomized rats restored the suppressed DNA biosynthesis and TK activity (P < 0.001), to levels similar to those found in rats that were partially hepatectomized only. The mitotic index and the percentage of PCNA positive nuclei in hepatocytes were also enhanced in G-CSF administered cadmium-pretreated partially hepatectomized groups of rats.
The administration of G-CSF triggers events that restore the impaired liver regeneration in this model of reduced hepatocyte proliferation.
