1. Use of reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction to evaluatein vivo cytokine gene expression in rats fed ethanol for long periods
- Author
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Amin A. Nanji, David J. Waxman, S. M. Hossein Sadrzadeh, and Shuping Zhao
- Subjects
Liver injury ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Alcoholic liver disease ,Messenger RNA ,Hepatology ,Saturated fat ,Biology ,medicine.disease ,Molecular biology ,Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction ,Endocrinology ,Internal medicine ,Gene expression ,medicine ,Tumor necrosis factor alpha ,Corn oil - Abstract
We evaluated the expression of interleukin-1 alpha, interleukin-1 beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and transforming growth factor-beta mRNAs in the intragastric-feeding rat model of alcoholic liver disease. Rats were fed different diets for periods of 2 or 4 wk. Animals fed saturated fat and ethanol and the corn oil-dextrose control group had no liver injury, whereas animals fed corn oil and ethanol showed pathologic changes. RNA was extracted from the livers at the time of killing, reverse-transcribed and amplified; polymerase chain reaction products were subjected to electrophoresis on agarose gel. Interleukin-1 alpha mRNA was present in all groups at 2 and 4 wk; interleukin-1 beta and transforming growth factor-beta mRNAs were present in all groups at 4 wk. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha mRNA was absent in all groups at 2 wk but was present in the corn oil-ethanol group only at 4 wk. Because pathological liver injury was evident in the corn oil-ethanol group by 4 wk, the presence of tumor necrosis factor-alpha mRNA at this time suggests a pathogenetic role for tumor necrosis factor-alpha in alcohol-induced liver injury.
- Published
- 1994