title: Expression of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in hepatocytes from rat fibrotic liver.
abstract: The pathological changes of parasympathetic nerve are considered as an independent prognostic factor of the survival rate of patients with chronic liver disease. The non-selective muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAchR) agonists and antagonists can affect the proliferation of hepatocytes and hepatic stellate cells, but the subtypes of mAchR expressions in HCs are still uncertain. Here, we investigate the expression of mAchR in hepatic fibrosis on rats. 3ml/kg 40% carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) was given to induce hepatic fibrosis on rats and the hepatocytes were isolated. Compared to the normal state, the expression levels of m1, 3, 5 in fibrotic liver tissues or hepatocytes were obviously increased, while m2, 4 decreased. 10μM pilocarpine or 10μM acetylcholine could increase the alanine aminotransferase (ALT), hydroxyproline (Hyp), collagen I, III in the hepatocytes, and decreased albumin (ALB). They also changed the expressions of mAchR similarly as the fibrotic hepatocytes and livers. However, atropine could ameliorate the state of fibrotic hepatocytes. These data indicate that mAchR played an important role in the regulation of hepatic fibrosis process. Targeting mAchR would have therapeutic potential for hepatic fibrosis.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Nantong University, PR China; Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Inflammation and Drug Target, PR China. Electronic address: luolin@ntu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Nantong University, PR China.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu, 226001, PR China.
authors.forename: Pengbo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Nantong University, PR China.
authors.forename: Liuliu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Nantong University, PR China.
authors.forename: Chenghao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Nantong University, PR China.
authors.forename: Jinhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Nantong University, PR China; Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Inflammation and Drug Target, PR China. Electronic address: zwei_601@126.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride / Q000633:toxicity; D005260:Female; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D011976:Receptors, Muscarinic; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride
keywords: Hepatic fibrosis; Hepatocytes; Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors; Parasympathetic nerve