Gene expression of placental glutathione S-transferase in hereditary hepatitis and spontaneous hepatocarcinogenesis of LEC strain rats.

Liver tissues of LEC rats, which develop fulminant hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma (hepatoma), were examined by Northern blot analysis using a cDNA probe of rat placental glutathione S-transferase (GST-P). GST-P gene expression was observed not only during hepatocarcinogenesis but also in fulminant hepatitis before development of chronic hepatitis and hepatoma in LEC rats. Cholangiofibrosis in LEC rats also showed high GST-P expression. A transplantable cell line derived from spontaneous LEC hepatoma exhibited a remarkably high expression. By contrast, very weak expression was observed in the livers of young LEC rats before development of hepatitis and control strain rats. Thus, spontaneous hepatic lesions in LEC rats may provide a new clue to elucidate the mechanism of GST-P gene expression.