title: Alteration of Connective Tissue Growth Factor (CTGF) Expression in Orbital Fibroblasts from Patients with Graves' Ophthalmopathy.
abstract: Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) is a disfiguring and sometimes blinding disease, which is characterized by inflammation and swelling of orbital tissues, with fibrosis and adipogenesis being predominant features. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the expression levels of fibrosis-related genes, especially that of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), are altered in orbital fibroblasts of patients with GO. The role of oxidative stress in the regulation of CTGF expression in GO orbital fibroblasts is also examined. By a SYBR Green-based real time quantitative PCR (RT-QPCR), we demonstrated that the mRNA expression levels of fibronectin, apolipoprotein J, and CTGF in cultured orbital fibroblasts from patients with GO were significantly higher than those of age-matched normal controls (p = 0.007, 0.037, and 0.002, respectively). In addition, the protein expression levels of fibronectin, apolipoprotein J, and CTGF analyzed by Western blot were also significantly higher in GO orbital fibroblasts (p = 0.046, 0.032, and 0.008, respectively) as compared with the control. Furthermore, after treatment of orbital fibroblasts with a sub-lethal dose of hydrogen peroxide (200 μM H2O2), we found that the H2O2-induced increase of CTGF expression was more pronounced in the GO orbital fibroblasts as compared with those in normal controls (20% vs. 7%, p = 0.007). Importantly, pre-incubation with antioxidants including N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and vitamin C, respectively, resulted in significant attenuation of the induction of CTGF in GO orbital fibroblasts in response to H2O2 (p = 0.004 and 0.015, respectively). Taken together, we suggest that oxidative stress plays a role in the alteration of the expression of CTGF in GO orbital fibroblasts that may contribute to the pathogenesis and progression of GO. Antioxidants may be used in combination with the therapeutic agents for effective treatment of GO.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 112, Taiwan.|Department of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chieh-Chih
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shi-Bei
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Pei-Chen
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan.|Department of Medicine, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City 252, Taiwan.|Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City 252, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Yau-Huei
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Wei
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D055513:Connective Tissue Growth Factor / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D049970:Graves Ophthalmopathy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D055513:Connective Tissue Growth Factor; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide