Recent studies suggest that vitamin A plays an inhibitory role with respect to "activation" of the hepatic Ito cell, a likely effector of hepatic fibrogenesis. Ito cell "activation" during fibrogenesis is characterized by a decrease in intracellular vitamin A and an increase in cellular proliferation and collagen production. To explore the hypothesis that retinoids have the capacity to diminish Ito cell activation, cultured Ito cells were exposed to retinoic acid and its effects assessed on three key features: cell proliferation, collagen protein production and mRNA abundance, and transforming growth factor beta protein production. Retinoic acid was 100-1,000X more potent than retinol with respect to inhibition of Ito cell proliferation. Interstitial collagen and transforming growth factor beta production were also reduced by 10(-6) M retinoic acid. The relative abundance of type I collagen mRNA however, was not significantly altered. By contrast, retinoic acid administration to rats caused a marked reduction in the abundance of type I collagen mRNA in both total hepatic and purified Ito cell RNA. The relative abundance of rat hepatic fibronectin or apolipoprotein E mRNA was not significantly altered. These studies demonstrate that retinoic acid can differentially modulate several key features of hepatic fibrogenesis in vitro and in vivo.
B H Davis, R T Kramer, N O Davidson
Usage data is cumulative from May 2024 through May 2025.
Usage | JCI | PMC |
---|---|---|
Text version | 182 | 9 |
49 | 23 | |
Figure | 0 | 2 |
Scanned page | 328 | 5 |
Citation downloads | 49 | 0 |
Totals | 608 | 39 |
Total Views | 647 |
Usage information is collected from two different sources: this site (JCI) and Pubmed Central (PMC). JCI information (compiled daily) shows human readership based on methods we employ to screen out robotic usage. PMC information (aggregated monthly) is also similarly screened of robotic usage.
Various methods are used to distinguish robotic usage. For example, Google automatically scans articles to add to its search index and identifies itself as robotic; other services might not clearly identify themselves as robotic, or they are new or unknown as robotic. Because this activity can be misinterpreted as human readership, data may be re-processed periodically to reflect an improved understanding of robotic activity. Because of these factors, readers should consider usage information illustrative but subject to change.