Thrombospondin-1 expression correlates with angiogenesis in experimental cirrhosis.

Abstract

AIM: To investigate the significance of Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) expression and its relationship with angiogenesis during experimental fibrosis. METHODS: Cirrhosis was induced in male Wistar rats by intraperitoneal administration of diethyl nitrosamine (DEN). The serial sections from liver tissues were stained with anti-CD34 and anti-TSP-1 antibodies before being quantitated by light microscopy. RESULTS: Our results showed that of TSP-1 expression gradually increases according to the severity of fibrosis (P < 0.05). Moreover, TSP-1 expression was found to be correlated with angiogenesis (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The correlative evidence of the link between TSP-1 and fibrosis or angiogenesis provided by this study suggests that besides its role as a strong promoter of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), TSP-1 might have an additional role in liver fibrogenesis by stimulating angiogenesis and this protein could be a potential target to prevent fibrogenesis in chronic inflammatory diseases of the liver.