Administration of rhIL-2 upregulates HGF in the cirrhotic liver of partial hepatectomized rats

Abstract

Liver regeneration is a process involving highly organized and ordered tissue growth triggered by the loss of liver tissue. This process has remained a fascinating topic in medicine. In this study, we examined the effects of recombinant human interleukin-2 (rhIL-2) in rats under cirrhotic conditions. Thirty rats were divided into three groups, and liver cirrhosis was induced by injecting diethylnitrosamine for 2 weeks and CCl4 for 8 weeks. After induction of cirrhosis, rhIL-2 was injected daily into their tail vein for three days and then hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), immunocytes in the blood, and TNF- production were analyzed. The analysis showed that TNF- was significantly downregulated in the liver without significant changes in nitric oxide and caspase-3/7 activities in primary cultured liver cells. In terms of the number of immunocytes, there were no significant differences between the control and the treated groups. However, HGF levels were significantly higher in the treated groups than the control (saline administration) group. Treatment of rhIL-2 significantly increased the proliferation of primary cultured liver cells. The proliferation rates of primary cultured liver cells were correlated with the upregulation of HGF by treatment with rhIL-2 in vivo and in vitro. These results suggest that rhIL-2 affects liver regeneration, which is at least related to the upregulation of HGF under cirrhotic conditions in rats.