Anti-histamine treatment on intestinal endotoxemia and liver inflammation in experimental chronic hepatitis rats / 中华临床感染病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the effect of anti-histamine treatment on intestinal endotoxemia and liver inflammation in experimental chronic hepatitis rats.Methods Thirty Wistar rats (15 males and 15 females) were randomly divided into control group (n =8),chronic hepatitis group (n =12) and hepatitis + anti-histamine group (n =10).Chronic hepatitis was induced by subcutaneous injection with 40％ of CCl4,and feeding with low protein,low choline,high cholesterol and high alcohol diet.Antihistamine treatment was given 1 week after the modeling by intragastric administration of ketotifen (1.25 mg/kg).All rats were sacrificed 4 weeks later.Plasma endotoxin,alanine aminotransferase (ALT),total bilirubin (TBil),tryptase,histamine,interferon-γ (IFNγ),iuterleukin (IL)-12,IL-10 and IL-4levels were detected,and the changes in liver histology,the morphology and ultrastructure of mast cells were observed.SPSS 13.0 software package was used for statistical analysis.ANOVA was used for the comparison of measurement data,and SNK method was used for pairwise comparison.Results Plasma endotoxin,ALT,TBil,tryptase,plasma and liver tissue histamine concentrations were (81 ± 19) pg/mL,(186 ± 140) U/L,(10.2±6.2) μmol/L,(0.75 ±0.21) mg/mL,(145 ±52) ng/mL,and (107 ±43) ng/100 mg in chronic hepatitis group,while the above parameters were significantly lower in anti-histamine group except TBil (P ＜ 0.05).Under light microscope,fatty degeneration and fibrosis were formed in liver of chronic hepatitis rats,the hepatic injury was attenuated in anti-histamine group.Toluidine blue stain showed that there was many degranulating and degranulated mast cells filled with purple granula around liver blood vessels and in fiber-interval in chronic hepatitis group,and there were few purple granula in anti-histamine group.The number of mast cells in anti-histamine group was (6.5 ± 1.5)/HP,which was significantly lower than chronic hepatitis group [(10.9 ± 1.6)/HP,P =0.000],but was still higher than that in the control group [(2.2 ± 0.9)/HP,P =0.000].Under electron microscope,the phenomenon of degranulation was severe in chronic hepatitis group and moderate in the anti-histamine group.Compared with the chronic hepatitis group,IL-4 and IL-10 in anti-histamine group were significantly decreased (P ＜0.05),IL-12 was increased (P ＜0.05),but the level of IFN-γ had no significant change (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Anti-histamine therapy can significantly improve liver inflammation and alleviate intestinal endotoxemia.