Expression of Connective Tissue Growth Factor in Renal Tissue in Rats with Unilateral Renal Venous Deligation

Objective: To investigate the expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in rat models of unilateral renal venous deligation animal models. Methods: Thirty male Wistar rats were divided into two groups. Twenty-five rats were subjected to the left renal vein ligature (experimental group) and 25 rats were with sham operation (control group). Rats were killed at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 days after operation(n = 5 at each time point). The morphological changes of tubulointerstitial fibrosis were observed by light microscopy with HE and Masson staining. The expressions of cytokeratins (CK), CTGF and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in renal tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. With computer aided video system, all results were run by semiquantitative analysis, t-test, mono-factor ANOVA and dependability analysis test. Results: The extent of tubulointerstitial fibrosis became serious with the time of ligature. The expressions of CTGF and α-SMA were consistent with the damage of tubulointerstitial. There was significant positive correlation between CTGF and α-SMA or collagen protein. Conclusion: These results indicated that the expression of CTGF was obviously up-regulated in rat with unilateral renal venous deligation. CTGF may be involved in tubulointerstitial fibrosis through the development of myofibroblasts.