Connective tissue growth factor and pulmonary allograft fibrosis in rats

To investigate the role of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in pulmonary allograft fibrosis in rats. The lungs of 20 Wistar rats were transplanted into 20 Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats. Ten allograft lungs were harvested 1 week postoperatively (acute rejection group,AR); the other 10 allografts were harvested 6 weeks postoperatively (chronic rejection group,CR); and ten normal Wistar rats served as a control group(normal lung, NL). Paraffin embedded sections of the harvested lung specimens were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE), Van Gieson (VG) for the examination of tissue morphology under the microscope. The scores of lung fibrosis were measured and the wet/dry ratio of the lung specimens was evaluated. The CTGF expression was determined by immunohistochemical method. The wet/dry ratios of lung decreased gradually(AR group vs. control group: 3.48+/-0.47 vs. 4.67+/-0.51, P