Hypoxia inducible factor 1-alpha mRNA expression in alcoholic liver disease / 中华肝脏病杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of hypoxia on chronic alcoholic liver disease.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly into two groups. The alcohol group (n=12) was fed 56% (v/v) of ethanol once per day by gastric infusion at 8 g/kg body weight for 24 weeks. The control group (n=12) was gastrically infused with normal saline with the same dose. At the end of 24 weeks, a blood sample was collected for determination of hepatic enzymes and then the rat was killed. Liver specimens were obtained for immunohistochemical staining and frozen at -80 degrees C used for RT-PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity increased significantly compared to the control group. A significant elevation in the expression of HIF1-alpha in liver of alcohol group was found compared to the control group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Hypoxia inducible factor 1-alpha expression was activated by ethanol-induced injury. This information suggested that hypoxia was involved in mechanism of alcoholic liver disease.</p>