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R eview : Regulation of liver regeneration by pro‐inflammatory cytokines
Author(s) -
DIEHL ANNA MAE,
RAI RUDRA
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of gastroenterology and hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.214
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1440-1746
pISSN - 0815-9319
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1746.1996.tb00292.x
Subject(s) - liver regeneration , hepatocyte , regeneration (biology) , hepatectomy , medicine , hepatic stellate cell , tumor necrosis factor alpha , pathology , hepatocyte growth factor , liver cytology , immunology , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , in vitro , resection , receptor , surgery , biochemistry , liver metabolism
The liver has tremendous regenerative capacity. This distinguishes it from other vital organs (e.g. the brain, heart and lungs) that cannot replace functional tissue once it has been destroyed. Although hepatocytes rarely proliferate in the healthy adult liver, virtually all surviving hepatocytes replicate at least once after 70% partial hepatectomy. Therefore, partial liver resection has been used to characterize mechanisms that regulate liver regeneration. Residual hepatocytes up‐regulate both proliferative and liver‐specific gene expression in order to preserve tissue specific function. In addition, hepatocyte proliferation is tightly co‐ordinated to complement regenerative responses in hepatic nonparenchymal cells (e.g. endothelia, biliary epithelia, stellate and Kupffer cells), so that the entire organ can be reconstituted within days. Studies with neutralizing antibodies to tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF) clearly demonstrate that, after partial hepatectomy, TNF promotes liver cell proliferation. The present review focuses on the regulation of the hepatocyte proliferative response by pro‐inflammatory cytokines.