Figure 3

Fibrosis analysis: histologic and molecular. A, shows a decrement in collagen content in cirrhotic animals treated with uPA plus MMP-8. B, liver sections Masson's stained in each experimental group, a) a representative histological image of a normal liver rat, in b-d cirrhotic animals treated with combinatorial gene therapy at 6, 8 and 10 days respectively. The histological images of f-h are representative of cirrhotic animals treated with irrelevant vector (Ad-β-Gal) at 6, 8 and 10 days, respectively, e) shows a control fibrotic liver injected with saline. C, Morphometric analysis indicates that animals treated with therapeutically gene therapy has a major recuperation at 6 to 10 days post-treatment (inducing a 55% of regression). D, TGF-β, evaluated by semicuantitative RT-PCR, showed a major decrement in mRNA at 8 days after treatment with Ad-uPA plus Ad-MMP-8 as compared with irrelevant control. N, normal; F, fibrotic.