Objective: To study the effect of ethanol exposure on the expression of HO-1 enzymes in human primary culture hepatocytes.
Methods: Human primary hepatocytes were isolated from human liver tissue and cultured in Williams' E medium. After ethanol exposure, HO-1 enzyme activity and protein level were detected by spectrophotometry and western blotting, respectively. Meanwhile, the level of aspartate transaminase (AST) in the supernatants and GSH content in hepatocytes were measured to indicate cell oxidative-damage.
Results: There was remarkable dose- and time-dependent relationship between ethanol exposure and AST release, and a time-dependent decrease in GSH content. Moreover, we also observed that ethanol exposure could affect HO-1 enzyme activity and HO-1 protein level, at the beginning, it went up significantly then went down.
Conclusion: The increase of HO-1 enzyme activity and protein level after ethanol exposure may be relative to prevent against ethanol-induced oxidative injury in human primary hepatocytes.