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Impact of Liver Sympathetic Nervous System on Liver Fibrosis and Regeneration After Bile Duct Ligation in Rats

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Abstract

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) affects many functions of the body. SNS fibers regulate many aspects of liver function, repair, and regeneration. However, in the model of bile duct ligation (BDL) in rats, the kind of impact caused by the regulation of liver SNS on liver fibrosis and liver regeneration is unclear. The main research objective of this experiment is to examine the effect of SNS on liver fibrosis and liver regeneration. Twenty-four male Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were assigned randomly to four groups. These groups included the sham surgery group (sham), model group (BDL), 6-hydroxydopamine group (BDL+6-OHDA), and spinal cord injury group (BDL+SCI). In the sham group, only exploratory laparotomy was performed without BDL. In the 6-OHDA group, 6-OHDA was used to remove sympathetic nerves after BDL. In the spinal cord injury group, rats underwent simultaneous BDL and spinal cord injury. After 3 weeks of feeding, four groups of rats were euthanized using high-dose anesthesia without pain. Moreover, liver tissue and blood were taken to detect liver fibrosis and regeneration indicators. After intraperitoneal injection of 6-OHDA into BDL rats, liver fibrosis indicators decreased. The administration of the injection effectively alleviated liver fibrosis and inhibited liver regeneration. However, after SCI surgery in BDL rats, liver fibrosis indicators increased. This resulted in exacerbating liver fibrosis and activating liver regeneration. The SNS plays a role in contributing to the liver injury process in the rat BDL model. Therefore, regulating the SNS may become a novel method for liver injury treatment.

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Data Availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

Abbreviations

6-OHDA:

6-Hydroxydopamine

ALT:

Alanine aminotransferase

AST:

Aspartate aminotransferase

BDL:

Bile duct ligation

SNS:

Sympathetic nervous system

ECM:

Extracellular matrix

HGF:

Hepatocyte growth factor

LN:

Laminin

NA:

Noradrenaline

PCIII:

Pre-collagen type III

SCI:

Spinal cord injury

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Funding

This work was supported by XinJiang Key laboratory opening topic fund subsidization: The regulation of sympathetic nerve in liver regeneration in hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (2021D04024) and Key Project of the Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China (no. 2022D01D17).

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Author notes

  1. Junlong Xue and Tiemin Jiang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hepatobiliary & Hydatid Diseases, Digestive & Vascular Surgery Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, 830054, China

    Junlong Xue, Tiemin Jiang, Jiayidaer Humaerhan, Maolin Wang, Jianghong Ning, Hanyue Zhao, Tuerganaili Aji & Yingmei Shao

  2. State Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis, Prevention and Management of High Incidence Diseases in Central Asia, The First Clinical Medical College of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China

    Tiemin Jiang & Tuerganaili Aji

  3. The First Clinical Medical, College of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, 830054, China

    Junlong Xue, Tiemin Jiang, Jiayidaer Humaerhan, Maolin Wang, Jianghong Ning & Hanyue Zhao

  4. Xinjiang Clinical Research Center for Echinococcosis and Hepatobiliary Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China

    Yingmei Shao

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  1. Junlong Xue
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Contributions

JX and TJ conceived the study; JH and HZ designed the experiments; JH and JN performed the experiments; JX and MW analyzed the data; JX and TJ wrote the manuscript; TA and YS made manuscript supervision and revisions. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yingmei Shao.

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The animal study was reviewed and approved by Animal Ethics Committee of Xinjiang Medical University.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Xue, J., Jiang, T., Humaerhan, J. et al. Impact of Liver Sympathetic Nervous System on Liver Fibrosis and Regeneration After Bile Duct Ligation in Rats. J Mol Neurosci 74, 4 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-023-02176-1

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