| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,940,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,140,000)
Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
Fiscal Year 2014: ¥2,470,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥570,000)
|
|---|
| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
To clarify the importance of liver macrophages (Kupffer cells) in pathogenesis of fulminant hepatitis and to find a new therapeutic approach, we used a mouse fulminant hepatitis model induced by Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and visualized dynamics of liver macrophages using contrast enhanced ultrasonography with microbubble-based contrast agent (Sonazoid). We compared the changes of Sonazoid-enhanced echogenicity with the histological distribution of macrophages. While the number of liver macrophages was extremely increased in the fulminant hepatitis group compared to the control group, the echogenicity in Kupffer-phase image was slightly increased in the fulminant hepatitis group. This study shows the possibility that the microbubble agent is a non-invasive useful tool for detecting dynamics of macrophages during acute liver injury, but the consideration is needed for changes of liver blood flow and macrophage phagocytic activity at the same time.
|
