Heat Shock Protein 27 is down-regulated in Ballooned Hepatocytes of Patients with Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH).

ABSTRACT: Ballooning degeneration (BD) of hepatocytes is a distinguishing histological feature associated with the progression of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Under the assumption that NAFLD severity is associated with metabolic-stress we explored the hypothesis that heat shock 27?kDa protein 1 (HSP27), a protein chaperone involved in stress resistance and cytoskeletal-remodeling, might be deregulated in ballooned hepatocytes. We observed that fasting plasma glucose (fpG) (p?=?0.00002), total cholesterol (p?=?0.02) and triglycerides (p?=?0.01) levels, and female sex (p?=?0.01) were significantly associated with the presence of BD. A logistic regression model showed that BD was independently associated with fpG (p?=?0.002); OR per unit of glucose concentration 1.05, 95% confidence interval 1.02-1.09. Furthermore, BD was associated with a significant 2.24-fold decrease in the expression level of HSP27-mRNA in comparison with absence of ballooning, p?=?0.002. Ballooned hepatocytes showed very low HSP27 immunoreactivity compared with hepatocyes without ballooning (p?=?0.009); HSP27 immunoreactivity was inversely correlated with fpG levels (R: -0.49, p?=?0.01). In conclusion, BD is associated with down-regulation of liver HSP27 gene and protein expression, suggesting that ballooned hepatocytes fail to ensure a robust physiological response to metabolic-induced stress.

SUBMITTER: Sookoian S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4776115 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature