title: [Inhibitory effect of angiotensin II receptor antagonist on the contraction and growth of hepatic stellate cells].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the effects of angiotensin II (ANG II) and its receptor antagonist (losartan) on the contraction and growth of HSCs.
  
  
  METHODS
  HSCs were isolated from Sprague Dawley rat and cultured at various conditions as follows: control, pretreatment of 10(-5) M ANG II, pretreatment of 10(-5) M endothelin, and pretreatment of 10(-5) M ANG II and 10(-6) M losartan. We conducted morphologic analysis with cellular area and length by image analysis system to estimate cell growth in each group. In addition, we measured the change of intracellular calcium currents via electrophysiological methods to evaluate the contractile effect of ANG II and losartan on HSCs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the fifth day of incubation, the mean cellular area of ANG II-pretreated group and ANG II with losartan-pretreated group were 704.68+/-22.6 micro m2 and 332.90+/-32.6 micro m2, respectively. This difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). ANG II induced an increase in the intracellular calcium current by 22.0+/-3.0% compared with basal current level (p<0.05). However, when losartan was pretreated, ANG II did not cause a significant increase in calcium current (3.1+/-0.8%, p>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ANG II accelerates the contraction and growth of HSCs, while its receptor blocker, losartan, inhibits the contraction and growth of HSCs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju-si, Gangwon-do, Korea. skbaik@wonju.yonsei.ac.kr
authors.forename: Soon Koo
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Baik
authors.forename: Ho Sung
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.forename: Ki Tae
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Suk
authors.forename: Jung Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Byong Jun
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yeun Jong
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Hyun Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dong Ki
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sang Ok
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Keon Il
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seung Kyu
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: Kyu Sang
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: In Deok
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Kong
mesh_terms: D000804:Angiotensin II / Q000494:pharmacology*; D057911:Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists; D000818:Animals; D015220:Calcium Channels / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D002455:Cell Division; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D019808:Losartan / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D057911:Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists; D015220:Calcium Channels; D000804:Angiotensin II; D019808:Losartan