Acute oestradiol (E2) administration to mice results in liver portal tract inflammation

摘要

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease which affects >900/10~6 post-menopausal women. The disease is characterized by portal tract inflammation; periportal fibrosis and the appearance of anti-mitochondrial antibodies in patient sera. There is currently no effective treatment and progression to end-stage liver disease requires liver transplantation to avoid death. The cause of PBC is unknown but one theory is that it is associated with xenobiotic exposure (Jones, 2007). We have hypothesized that PBC may be caused exposure to hepatotoxic xenooestrogens. As an initial test of this hypothesis, oestradiol (E2) and a xenooestrogen - ethinyl oestradiol (EE) were administered to mice for a short period to establish whether oestrogens could cause portal tract inflammation.