Telmisartan plus propranolol improves liver fibrosis and bile duct proliferation in the PSC-like Abcb4-/- mouse model

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease leading to cirrhosis and cholangiocellular carcinoma. Inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin system or the sympathetic nervous system delay liver fibrogenesis in animal models.

We investigated the antifibrotic potential of telmisartan, an angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist, and the β-adrenoceptor blocker propranolol in the PSC-like Abcb4 knockout mouse model.

Sixty-five Abcb4 (-/-) mice were treated with telmisartan for 3 or 5 months (T) and with telmisartan plus propranolol for 3, 5, or 8 months (TP), or for 2 or 5 months starting with a delay of 3 months (TP delayed). Liver hydroxyproline content, inflammation, fibrosis, and bile duct proliferation were assessed; fibrosis-related molecules were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting.

Compared to controls, telmisartan monotherapy had no significant influence on hydroxyproline; however, telmisartan plus propranolol reduced hydroxyproline (TP 3 months, p = 0.008), fibrosis score (TP 3 months and TP 8 months, p = 0.043 and p = 0.008, respectively; TP delayed 8 months, p < 0.0005), bile duct proliferation (TP 8 months and TP delayed 8 months, p = 0.006 and p < 0.0005, respectively), and procollagen α1(I), endothelin-1, TIMP-1 and MMP3 mRNA as well as α-SMA, CK-19, and TIMP-1 protein.

Telmisartan plus propranolol reduces liver fibrosis and bile duct proliferation in the PSC-like Abcb4 (-/-) mouse model, even when started at late stages of fibrosis, and may thus represent a novel therapeutic option for cholestatic liver diseases such as PSC.