Interventional effect of hepatocyte growth-promoting factor on interstitial fibrosis in rat kidney after ligation of unilateral ureter CHEN Liping, YE Fan, WANG Baoxing 1Pharmaceutical Preparation Section, 2Department of Nephrology, Third Hospital, He Bei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050051, China

【Abstract】 Objective To study the effects of hepatocyte growth-promoting factor (pHGF) on the expression of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) in rat kidney with interstitial fibrosis, and to explore the possible mechanism of pHGF in the improvement of renal interstitial fibrosis in rats for providing useful clues to the prevention and treatment of clinical renal fibrosis. Methods Fifty-four male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: sham operation group, unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) group, and UUO treated with pHGF (UUO + pHGF) group. Rats were sacrificed after the surgery for 3, 7 and 14 days. Histological change in the obstructed kidney was observed by HE stain and Masson stain. HGF and TGF-β1 in tissues were examined by immunohistochemical method. Results, TGF-β1 expression and injury in tubular interstitium were more prominent in UUO group than in sham operation group (P＜0.05) and in UUO + pHGF group (P＜0.05). In UUO group, HGF expression in kidney was high in the first 3 days after the surgery, decreased at 7th day, and then became weaker at 14th day after the surgery. In UUO + pHGF group, however, HGF expression was higher than that in UUO group at 3rd, 7th and 14th day after the surgery (P＜0.05), in association with less pathological change and smaller area of tubulointestitial injury (P＜0.05). Conclusion pHGF improves the tubulointerstitial injury due to ureteral obstruction in rats, possibly through the inhibition of TGF-β1 over-expression and stimulation of HGF expression in renal interstitium.