TGF-β1和Ⅳ型胶原在慢性移植肾病患者肾组织中的表达及意义

Expressions of transforming growth factor-beta1 and collagen IV in renal tissues of patients with chronic allograft nephropathy]

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expressions of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 and collagen IV in the renal tissues of patients with chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN). METHODS: Immunohistochemical method and computer-assisted image analysis system were used to detect the expressions of TGF-beta1 and collagen IV in the renal tissues of patients with CAN, and the association between TGF-beta1 and collagen IV expressions as well as that between their expressions and the pathological grading of CAN were analyzed. RESULTS: The expressions of TGF-beta1 and collagen IV were significantly higher in the renal tissues of the patients than in normal renal tissues (P<0.001), and the expressions tended to increase with the pathological grades of CAN; TGF-beta1 and collagen IV expressions in both the renal glomeruli and the tubulointerstitium were in patients with CAN positively correlated with normal renal tissues (r=0.943, P<0.001; r=0.910, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal collagen IV deposition is one of the major factors associated with renal fibrosis in CAN, and TGF-beta1 might play an important role in renal fibrosis in CAN through up-regulation of collagen IV in the renal tissues.