Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026
Bile Duct Ligation in Mice: Induction of Inflammatory Liver Injury and Fibrosis by Obstructive Cholestasis
Published on: February 10, 2015
Bile duct ligation in developing rats: temporal progression of liver, kidney, and brain damage
Jiunn-Ming Sheen1, Li-Tung Huang, Chih-Sung Hsieh
1Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 833, Taiwan.
Purpose:
Cholestatic liver disease may result in progressive end-stage liver disease and other extrahepatic complications. We explored the temporal progression of bile duct ligation (BDL)-induced cholestasis in developing rats, focusing on brain cognition and liver and kidney pathology, to elucidate whether these findings were associated with asymmetric dimethylarginine and oxidative stress alterations.
Materials And Methods:
Three groups of young male Sprague-Dawley rats were studied: one group underwent laparotomy (sham), another group underwent laparotomy and BDL for 2 weeks (BDL2), and a third group underwent laparotomy and BDL for 4 weeks (BDL4).
Results:
The effect of BDL on liver was represented by transforming growth factor beta1 levels and histology activity index scores, which were worse in the BDL4 rats than in the BDL2 rats. BDL4 rats also exhibited more severe spatial memory deficits than BDL2 rats. In addition, renal injury was more progressive in BDL4 rats than in BDL2 rats because BDL4 rats displayed higher Cr levels, elevated tubulointerstitial injury scores, neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, and symmetric dimethylarginine levels.
Conclusions:
Our findings highlight the fact that young BDL rats exhibit similar trends of progression of liver, kidney, and brain damage. Further studies are needed to better delineate the nature of progression of organ damage in young cholestatic rats.
