Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2802

Title: Pathophysiology of Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cells
Authors: Cheluvappa, Rajkumar
Keywords: Liver
Pimonidazole
Hypoxia
Vascular endothelial growth factor
Vascular endothelial growth factor-receptor 2
Aging
Poloxamer 407
hepatocyte
immunohistochemistry
electron microscopy
liver sinusoidal endothelial cell
fenestrations
oxidative stress
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
pyocyanin
transplantation
Issue Date: 11-Jul-2008
Publisher: University of Sydney.
Faculty of Medicine
Abstract: Owing to its strategic position in the liver sinusoid, pathologic and morphologic alterations of the Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cell (LSEC) have far-reaching repercussions for the whole liver and systemic metabolism. LSECs are perforated with fenestrations, which are pores that facilitate the transfer of lipoproteins and macromolecules between blood and hepatocytes. Loss of LSEC porosity is termed defenestration, which can result from loss of fenestrations and/ or decreases in fenestration diameter. Gram negative bacterial endotoxin (Lipopolysaccharide, LPS) has marked effects on LSEC morphology, including induction LSEC defenestration. Sepsis is associated with hyperlipidemia, and proposed mechanisms include inhibition of tissue lipoprotein lipase and increased triglyceride production by the liver. The LSEC has an increasingly recognized role in hyperlipidemia. Conditions associated with reduced numbers of fenestrations such as ageing and bacterial infections are associated with impaired lipoprotein and chylomicron remnant uptake by the liver and consequent hyperlipidemia. Given the role of the LSEC in liver allograft rejection and hyperlipidemia, changes in the LSEC induced by LPS may have significant clinical implications. In this thesis, the following major hypotheses are explored: 1. The Pseudomonas aeruginosa toxin pyocyanin induces defenestration of the LSEC both in vitro and in vivo 2. The effects of pyocyanin on the LSEC are mediated by oxidative stress 3. Defenestration induced by old age and poloxamer 407 causes intrahepatocytic hypoxia and upregulation of hypoxia-related responses 4. Defenestration of the LSEC seen in old age can be exacerbated by diabetes mellitus and prevented or ameliorated by caloric restriction commencing early in life
Description: Doctor of Philosophy(PhD)
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2802
Appears in Collections:Sydney Digital Theses (Open Access)

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