IN-VIVO ASSESSMENT OF HEPATIC ALTERATIONS FOLLOWING GADOLINIUM CHLORIDE-INDUCED KUPFFER CELL BLOCKADE

Citation
D. Ruttinger et al., IN-VIVO ASSESSMENT OF HEPATIC ALTERATIONS FOLLOWING GADOLINIUM CHLORIDE-INDUCED KUPFFER CELL BLOCKADE, Journal of hepatology, 25(6), 1996, pp. 960-967
Citations number
41
Language
INGLESE
art.tipo
Article
Categorie Soggetti
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Journal title
ISSN journal
0168-8278
Volume
25
Issue
6
Year of publication
1996
Pages
960 - 967
Database
ISI
SICI code
0168-8278(1996)25:6<960:IAOHAF>2.0.ZU;2-X
Abstract
Background/Aims: In recent years, Gadolinium chloride (GdCl3), a rare earth metal, has frequently been used to study the role and function o f Kupffer cells under physiological and pathological conditions. This study was performed to elucidate the consequences of GdCl3-induced Kup ffer cell blockade for hepatic microcirculation, hepatocellular functi on and integrity. Methods/Results: Using intravital fluorescence micro scopy, we studied the hepatic microcirculation of rats pretreated with either GdCl3 (n = 12; 10 mg/kg; 1 ml i.v. for 2 d) or saline (n = 9; 1 ml). The GdCl3-treated animals revealed a significantly lower phagoc ytic activity of Kupffer cells when compared to controls. Concomitantl y, GdCl3-treatment resulted in a pronounced rise of serum cytokine act ivity (tumor necrosis factor-alpha; interleukin-6). The hepatic microv ascular perfusion was characterized by a moderate increase in the numb er of non-perfused sinusoids accompanied by a reduction of bile flow. In addition, GdCl3-treatment caused a slight increase in liver enzyme activity (<200 U/l) (aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotrans ferase) with no substantial parenchymal tissue injury (light microscop y). The groups did not differ in concentrations of circulating endotox in (GdCl3-treatment: 0.044 +/- 0.042 ng/ml; controls: 0.052 +/- 0.014 ng/ml). Conclusions: We conclude that hepatic alterations following Ku pffer cell blockade with GdCl3 may possibly be the consequence of cyto kine release as a response to the phagocytic challenge of GdCl3-aggreg ates. If used for Kupffer cell blockade, the hepatic alterations follo wing GdCl3-treatment described in the present study should be taken in to consideration.