Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the relations of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expressions with fetal brain injury in rats with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP). Methods: Sixty rats pregnant for 15 days were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The ICP model was established in experimental group. On the 21st day, the blood biochemical test, histopathological examination of pregnant rat liver and fetal brain tissues and immunohistochemical analysis of fetal rat brain tissues were performed. Results: On the 21st day, the alanineaminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and total bile acid levels in experimental group were significantly higher than control group (P<0.01). Compared with control group, there was obvious vacuolar degeneration in pregnant rat liver tissue and fetal brain tissue in experimental group. NPY expression in fetal brain tissue was negative in control group and positive in experimental group. HO-1 expression in fetal brain tissue was strongly positive in control group and positive in experimental group. There was significant difference of immunohistochemical staining optical density between two groups (P<0.01). Conclusion: In fetal brain of ICP rats, the NPY expression is increased, and the HO-1 expression is decreased, which may be related to the fetal brain injury.
Highlights
Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a special complication of pregnancy, which occurs in the middle and late stage of pregnancy
The liver biochemical and pathological changes of pregnant rats after treatment with estrogen are similar to those of human with ICP, and this can be used as an animal model for studying human ICP
It is found that the ICP model established by this method shows slight necrosis in the liver under light microscope, which is not consistent with the fact that there is no spotty necrosis change in human ICP14
Summary
Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) is a special complication of pregnancy, which occurs in the middle and late stage of pregnancy. The etiology and pathogenesis of ICP are not very clear They are mainly related to estrogen factors, family genetic factors, and environmental factors[3,4]. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a polypeptide composed of 36 amino acids. It acts as the neurotransmitter, and plays a role in nerve regulation and nerve secretion[5]. Heme oxygenase (HO) is a family of microsomal enzymes with high conservatism in evolution It has important function in regulation of iron ion stability and antioxidant defense[7]. This study established a pregnant rat model of ICP, and investigated the relations of NPY and HO-1 expressions with fetal brain injury in rats with ICP. The objective was to provide one more theoretical basis for further studying the etiology of ICP and its clinical treatment
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