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. 2015 Jun 26:8:265.
doi: 10.1186/s13104-015-1253-2.

The effects of pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin on liver and serum concentrations of activin-A and follistatin in normal Wistar rat: a preliminary report

Bassem Refaat  1 , Adel Galal El-Shemi  2   3 , Ahmed Mohammed Ashshi  4
Affiliations

The effects of pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin on liver and serum concentrations of activin-A and follistatin in normal Wistar rat: a preliminary report

Bassem Refaat et al. BMC Res Notes. .

Abstract

Background: Activin-A and follistatin regulate the liver and the immune system.

Aims: To measure the effects of treatment with pegylated-interferon-α (Peg-IFN-α) and ribavirin on the concentrations of mature activin-A and follistatin in serum and liver tissue homogenates in rats.

Methods: A total of 28 male Wistar rats were divided equally into four groups as follow: 'Control group' (n = 7), 'PEG only group' consisted of those that only received a weekly injection of Peg-IFN-α (6 µg/rat) for 4 weeks, 'RBV only group' received ribavirin only (4 mg/rat/day) orally for 35 days and the last group received both Peg-IFN-α and ribavirin 'PEG & RBV group'. The concentrations of candidate proteins in serum and liver samples were measured using ELISA.

Results: Pegylated-interferon-α decreased activin-A and increased follistatin significantly in serum and liver of 'PEG only' and 'PEG & RBV' groups compared with the 'Control' and 'RBV only' groups (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the 'RBV only' and 'Control' groups (P > 0.05) in the concentrations of candidate proteins. A significant positive correlations between serum and liver activin-A (r = 0.727; P = 0.02 × 10(-3)) and follistatin (r = 0.540; P = 0.01) was also detected.

Conclusion: Pegylated-interferon-α modulates the production of activin-A and follistatin by the liver, which is reflected and can be detected at the serum level. Further studies are needed to explore the role of Peg-IFN-α based therapy on the production of activins and follistatin by the liver and immune cells.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean ± SD of A serum activin-A, B liver activin-A, C serum follistatin and D liver follistatin in the different study groups (a = P < 0.05 compared to control, b = P < 0.05 compared to PEG-only group, c = P < 0.05 compared to PEG & RBV group).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlation between a serum and liver activin-A, b serum and liver follistatin, c serum activin-A and serum follistatin, d serum activin-A and liver follistatin, e liver activin-A and serum follistatin and f liver activin-A and follistatin by Pearson’s correlation test.
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