Effects of zinc supplementation on liver regeneration in mice exposed to long-term ethanol administration

Objective To examine whether dietary zinc supplemen tation could improve liver regeneration in a mouse model of a lcoholic liver disease.Methods Adult C57BL 6 mice were fed with ethanol-containing liquid diet for 6 months to induce a lcoholic liver disease ascertained by serumalanine tran sfera seactivity and histopathological changes.At the same time, the number of proliferation nuclear antigen(PCNA)-positive cell and the expression of hepa to cyte nuclear factor-4a(HNF-4a) were measured.Results Zinc supplementation to ethano-l exposed mice enhanced liver regeneration by increasing the number of proliferation nuclear antigen(PCNA)-positive cell.Zinc-enhanced liver regeneration was associated with an increase in HNF-4a.Conclusion The studyprovides evidence that zinc supplementation enhances liver regeneration at least in part by HNF-4a through the up-regulation of cell proliferation-related proteins, suggesting that dietary zinc supplementation may have beneficial effects in a lcoholic liver disease.