ABSTRACT
especially in the group of ceasing CCl4 injection. Conclusion After transplanted into the liver by spleen injection, hepatic oval cells could plant in the portal area, which improve liver function and alleviate the cirrhosis level.
ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the effect of hepatic oval cells and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to treat liver fibrosis in mice. Methods The C57BL/6 mice were fed with 3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1, 4-dihydro-collidine (DDC) in a standard food at a concentra-tion of 0.1% to activate the oval cells proliferation, then the nonparenchymal cells were separated by in situ perfusion and density gradient centrifugation, and finally Sca-1 antibody was used in conjunction with magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) to separate the Sca-1 +cells. Other mice were injected subcutaneously with CCl4 to establish experimental liver fibrosis model. Finally, the fibrosis mice were trans-planted with HOC or MSC or saline by spleen injection according to the group they belonged to. Four weeks later, the liver function index, the hydroxyproline and the histopathological change among the groups were used to evaluate the effect of the treatment. Result The liver function index was improved after transplantation. HOC and MSE treatment could reduce both the hydroxyproline level and alleviate the fibro-sis, but HOC seems more effective in the group with continuing CCl4 injection(P < 0.05). When stopping injecting CCl4, the change of fi-brosis was not visible(P >0.05). Conclusion Both hepatic oval cells and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can improve the liver function, and alleviate the fibrosis level by transpleen transplantation, but hepatic oval cells were more effective.