Evaluation of safety for hepatectomy in a novel mouse model with nonalcoholic-steatohepatitis

Figure 1 Survival rate after partial hepatectomy. Survival rates of the 30% PH and 70% PH groups were evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method. All mice in the 30% PH group survived. In contrast, 80% of the NASH 70% PH group died by 20 d. n = 27 in NASH 30% PH group; n = 32 in NASH 70% PH group. ^bP < 0.01. PH: partial hepatectomy; NASH: nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Figure 2 Ki-67 staining and proliferation score. Proliferation was evaluated by Ki-67 staining. We compared preoperative nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) groups with NASH 30% PH and NASH 70% PH groups 6 h after PH. Ratios of Ki-67-positive/total hepatocytes were calculated. Significantly fewer Ki-67-positive cells were noted in the 70% PH group than in the NASH 30% PH group. Ratios (%) are expressed as the mean ± SD. n = 2 per groups, 10 fields per sample. ^aP < 0.05; ^bP < 0.01. Scale bar: 100 μm. PH: partial hepatectomy; NASH: nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Figure 3 Protein assay. Expression of phosphorylated (A) Akt, (B) STAT3, and (C) ERK1/2 in normal and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis liver groups 6 h after PH. Expression levels were detected by western blot analysis. Ratios of densitometry were calculated by each score/score of control 70% PH (D). Data are expressed as the mean ± SD. n = 5-7 per groups. ^bP < 0.01 vs other groups.

Figure 4 Histopathological findings. A: Apoptosis was evaluated by TUNEL staining. Ratios of TUNEL-positive/total hepatocytes were calculated; B: Necrosis was evaluated by HE staining. Ratios of necrosis morphological feature/total area were calculated. Apoptosis and necrosis were higher in the NASH 70% PH group than in the other groups. Data are expressed as the mean ± SD. n = 2 per groups, 10 fields per sample. ^bP < 0.01. Scale bar: 100 μm. PH: Partial hepatectomy; NASH: Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.

Figure 5 Gene expression of microarray. GADD45A and PDE4B expression correlated with the cell cycle. RT-PCR demonstrated a significant difference between the groups. Data are expressed as the mean ± SD. n = 5-7 per groups. ^aP < 0.05; ^bP < 0.01. PH: partial hepatectomy; NASH: nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.