Effects of Prostaglandin E_1 on hepatic apoptosis and the expression of apoptosis-related proteins in rats with obstructive jaundice

Objective To investigate the effect of Prostaglandin E1 on hepatic apoptosis in rats with obstructive jaundice(OJ) and its possible mechanisms.Methods Seventy-two health SD rats were divided into three groups randomly:sham operation group(SH group),the OJ group(OJ group)and the group of OJ rats administered Prostaglandin E1(PGE1group).The OJ and PGE1 group were established by double-ligating bile duct.Tail vein injection of Prostaglandin E1 was only administered daily in PGE1 group.Three groups of rats were sacrificed on the 3,7 and 10 days of postoperation respectively.The levels of serum total bilirubin(TBil),direct bilirubin(DBil),alanine aminotransferase(ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase(AST) were tested and the tissue's histopathology changes were observed.Apoptosis of hepatocytes was tested by TUNEL and accounted apoptosis index(AI),the immunohistochemical technique was used for detecting the NF-κB and iNOS protein expression.Results In PGE1 group,the values of serum ALT,AST,TBil and DBil were lower than those in OJ group(P0.05).Meanwhile,Prostaglandin E1 degraded the expression of iNOS in hepatic tissues,and enhanced the expression of NF-κB(P0.05).In addition,the quantity of positive TUNEL cells in PGE1 group was lower than that in OJ group(P0.01).Conclusion PGE1 can decrease hepatic apoptosis in rats with obstructive jaundice(OJ),to which the modulation of NF-κB and iNOS may contribute.