This article is part of the supplement: 11th International Symposium on the Cells of the Hepatic Sinusoid and their Relation to Other Cells .

Proceedings

Activation of Stellate Cells Before Induction of Hepatic Fibrosis – Precise Timing in Choline-deficient Diet-fed Rat Model

Kazuhiko Besshi¹ , Mutsunori Fujiwara² , Haruki Senoo³ , Yasufumi Kondou¹ , Yoshitaka Ohsugi¹ , Taiji Hayashi¹ and Kozo Ishidate⁴

¹  Drug Safety Research Laboratory, Taiho Pharmaceutical Co, Ltd, 224-2 Ebisuno, Hiraishi, Kawauchi-cho, Tokushima, Japan

²  Division of Pathology, Japanese Red Cross Medical Center, Japan

³  Department of Anatomy, Akita University School of Medicine, Japan

⁴  Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan

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Comparative Hepatology 2004, 3(Suppl 1):S14doi:10.1186/1476-5926-2-S1-S14

Published:	14 January 2004

First paragraph (this article has no abstract)

Quiescent hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) store vitamin A as lipid droplets in the cytoplasm. The activated HSCs by several stimuli have functions similar to that of myofibroblasts and play key roles in hepatic fibrosis [1-3]. However, precise timing between activation of the HSC and induction of hepatic fibrosis is still unknown. Choline-deficient (CD) diet induces fatty liver and subsequently hepatic fibrosis in rats. We investigated the changes of HSCs in the progress of hepatic fibrosis induced by CD diet in rats, and analyzed the time course from the activation of the HSCs to the induction of hepatic fibrosis.