Concanavaline A induces immuno-damages of the liver in mice by triggering cell apoptosis

Objective:To research the immunologic mechanism and apoptosis in the liver injury induced by Concanavaline A.Methods:80 BALB/c mice were divided into the normal control group(n=5) and the model group of 75 mice.Concanavaline A was intravenously injected in the model mice with 15 mg/kg whereas the mice of normal control were injected with normal saline.Postcava blood and the liver tissue were collected at different times during of the induction of liver damage.The amount of IFN-γ,TNF-α and IL-4 in sera was detected,and the liver tissues were processed in terms of the staining procedure of TUNEL analysis.The expression of Fas and Caspase3 in the freezing specimens of liver were analyzed with Real Time-PCR assay.Results:The levels of IFN-γ,TNF-α,IL-4 in the model group mice were elevated obviously and the apoptosis in the liver was significantly apparent compared with those in the normal group,which was correlated to the time of stimulation.The expression of Fas and Caspase3 in liver was increasing gradually with the peak time of Caspese3 at 12 hours thereafter,and the expression of Fas reached peak at the 24 hour.Conclusion:Apoptosis generally exist in concanavalin A-induced liver injury,moreover the development of apoptosis is closely correlated with the change of cytokine secretion.Apoptosis of hepatocytes is associated with activation of Fas/FasL signal passageway,Furthermore,caspase3 was involved in the development of apoptosis.