Effect of splenic artery coarctation on splenic iNOS and Th1/Th2 polarization in cirrhotic rats with portal hypertension / 中华肝胆外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect and the potential mechanism of splenic artery coarctation on the expression of iNOS and Th1/Th2 cytokines in spleen of cirrhotic rats with portal hypertension (PHT). Methods Cirrhotic rats were randomized into 3 groups (n= 10)sham operation group (SOG), splenic artery coarctation group (SAC) and splenic artery ligation group (SAL). Ten normal rats treated with sham operation were employed to serve as normal control group (NCG). Immunohistochemial staining was used to observe iNOS. RT-PCR was used to detect IFN-γ and IL-4mRNA. The Pearson's correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationship between iNOS and IFN-γ or IL-4. Results The expression of iNOS was increased significantly in spleen of cirrhotic rats as compared with NCG(P＜0. 01). It was decreased after SAC and SAL compared with SOG (P＜0. 01). The expression of IFN-γmRNA and IFN-γ/IL-4 of SOG were decreased but IL-4mRNA increased significantly than that of NCG(P＜0.01). IFN-γmRNA was increased after SAC compared with SOG (P＜0.05). IL-4mRNA was decreased and IFN-γ/IL-4 increased after SAC and SAL compared with SOG (P＜0. 05). The expression of iNOS was negatively correlated with the expression of IFN-γmRNA(r=-0.672, P＜ 0.01 ) and positively correlated with the expression of IL-4 mRNA (r=0.634,P＜0. 01). Conclusion The expression of iNOS is decreased and IFN-γ/IL-4 increased after SAC in spleen of cirrhotic rats with PHT and it may improve Th1/Th2 polarization by reducing the expression of iNOS.