title: Thrombospondin-1 expression correlates with angiogenesis in experimental cirrhosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the significance of Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) expression and its relationship with angiogenesis during experimental fibrosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cirrhosis was induced in male Wistar rats by intraperitoneal administration of diethyl nitrosamine (DEN). The serial sections from liver tissues were stained with anti-CD34 and anti-TSP-1 antibodies before being quantitated by light microscopy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results showed that of TSP-1 expression gradually increases according to the severity of fibrosis (P < 0.05). Moreover, TSP-1 expression was found to be correlated with angiogenesis (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The correlative evidence of the link between TSP-1 and fibrosis or angiogenesis provided by this study suggests that besides its role as a strong promoter of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), TSP-1 might have an additional role in liver fibrogenesis by stimulating angiogenesis and this protein could be a potential target to prevent fibrogenesis in chronic inflammatory diseases of the liver.
authors.affiliation: Akdeniz University, Medical School, Department of Pathology, Antalya 07070, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gulsum-Ozlem
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Elpek
authors.forename: Guzide-Ayse
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Gokhan
authors.forename: Sevgi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bozova
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018952:Antigens, CD34 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004052:Diethylnitrosamine / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D007249:Inflammation; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D019700:Thrombospondin 1 / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D018952:Antigens, CD34; D019700:Thrombospondin 1; D004052:Diethylnitrosamine