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Updated: Sep 20, 2026

Development of an Ethanol-induced Fibrotic Liver Model in Zebrafish to Study Progenitor Cell-mediated Hepatocyte Regeneration
Published on: May 13, 2016
Primary human hepatocytes are protected against prolonged and repeated exposure to ethanol by
Jos F van Pelt1, Chris Verslype, Tina Crabbé
1Department of Liver and Pancreatic Diseases, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Catholic University of Leuven, Herestraat 49, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Jos.vanPelt@med.kuleuven.ac.be
Aims And Methods:
We investigated the effect of silibinin-C-2',3'-dihydrogensuccinate (SDH) on primary human hepatocytes when exposed to ethanol for 14 days. At regular intervals, the medium was refreshed and liver enzymes and secreted protein in the medium were determined.
Results:
The ethanol-induced release of lactate dehydrogenase (at 34 mM ethanol) was completely blocked by 20 microM SDH. SDH itself stimulated fibrinogen release and had no toxic effect.
Conclusions:
We can conclude that SDH has a beneficial effect on human hepatocytes when exposed to ethanol in vitro.

