The effect of estradiol on the expression of MMP-2 and TIMP-1 in rat hepatic stellate cells

Objective To analyze the effect and the pathway of estradiol on hepatic stellate cells (HSC). Methods Cultured HSC were randomly divided into 4 groups and different concentrations of estradiol were added, then the effect of estradiol on the proliferation and the expression of MMP-1 and TIMP-1 mRNA, and α-SMA protein were detected by MTT assay, RT-PCR and Immunocytochemistry, respectively. Results The results showed that estradiol could inhibit HSCs proliferation in the dose-dependent manner. We found that estradiol up regulated the expression of MMP-2 (P<0.01) and down-regulated the expression of TIMP-1 in mRNA level (P <0.01). The expression of α-SMA protein significantly decreased as compared with the negative control (P<0. 05).Conclusion Estradiol has anti-fibrosis function. This maybe related to increase the expression of MMP-2 and decrease the expression of TIMP-1. Key words: Estradiol;  Hepatic stellate cell;  MMP-2;  TIMP-1;  Liver fibrosis