Abstract
Hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) is a critical transcription factor that controls oxygen homeostasis in response to hypoxia, inflammation and oxidative stress. HIF has been implicated in the pathogenesis of liver injury in which these events play a role, including acetaminophen (APAP) overdose, which is the leading cause of acute liver failure in the US. APAP overdose has been reported to activate HIF-1α in mouse livers and isolated hepatocytes downstream of oxidative stress. HIF-1α signaling controls many factors that contribute to APAP hepatotoxicity, including mitochondrial cell death, inflammation, and hemostasis. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that HIF-1α contributes to APAP hepatotoxicity. Conditional HIF-1α deletion was generated in mice using an inducible Cre-lox system. Control (HIF-1α-sufficient) mice developed severe liver injury 6 and 24h after APAP overdose (400 mg/kg). HIF-1α-deficient mice were protected from APAP hepatotoxicity at 6h, but developed severe liver injury by 24h, suggesting that HIF-1α is involved in the early stage of APAP toxicity. In further studies, HIF-1α-deficient mice had attenuated thrombin generation and reduced plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) production compared to control mice, indicating that HIF-1α signaling contributes to hemostasis in APAP hepatotoxicity. Finally, HIF-1α-deficient animals had decreased hepatic neutrophil accumulation and plasma concentrations of interleukin-6 (IL-6), keratinocyte chemoattractant (KC) and regulated upon activation normal T cell expressed and excreted (RANTES) compared to control mice, suggesting an altered inflammatory response. HIF-1α contributes to hemostasis, sterile inflammation, and early hepatocellular necrosis during the pathogenesis of APAP toxicity.
- Received February 12, 2011.
- Revision received May 11, 2011.
- Accepted May 12, 2011.
- The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics