The Expression of Connective Tissue Growth Factor in Liver Fibrotic Tissues of Human and Rats

Objective:To explore the role of Connective tissue growth factor(CTGF)in the mechanism of liver fibrosis via in- vestigating the expression of CTGF in human and rats fibrotic liver tissue.Methods:Liver fibrosis models of rats were made by subcutaneously injecting with CCl_4.Thirty two male SD rats (weight 250～300g) were randomly scarified at 1~(st),4~(th) and 8~(th) af- ter injection of CCl_4,respectively,and their liver tissues were used for examining CTGF by immunohistochemistry stain.On the other hand.immunobistochemistry stain was used to detect the expression of CTGF in 32 human liver cirrhosis and 12 nor- mal liver tissues too.Results:The expression of CTGF in rats after injection with CCl_4 were found chiefly in hepatic stellate cells(HSC) and hepatocytes and all significantly higher than those in normal rats(P＜0.01,＜0.05).Moreover,it presented with progressive tendency for the expression of CTGF in rats respectively at 1~(st),4~(th) and 8~(th) week after injection with CCl_4(P＜0.01,＜0.05).It presentsed with significantly progressive tendency for the expression of CTGF in human normal tissues and liver cirrhosis(P＜0.01 ) too.Conclusion:The overexpression of CTGF maybe accelerate the procedure of liver fibrosis via en- hancing HSC proliferation and the ECM increase,and play an important role in liver fibrogenesis.