PXR activators are used to treat pruritus in chronic inflammatory liver diseases such as primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). The aims of this study were to determine whether PXR activators could have an additional benefit of inhibiting inflammation in the liver, and determine whether cyclosporin A – which more effectively prevents PBC recurrence in transplanted patients than FK506 – is a PXR activator. In SJL/J mice (which have constitutively high levels of hepatic portal tract inflammatory cell recruitment), feeding a PXR activator inhibited inflammation, TNFα and Il-1α mRNA expression in SJL/J-PXR+/+, but not SJL/J-PXR−/−. Monocytic cells – a major source of inflammatory mediators such as TNFα – expressed the PXR and PXR activators inhibited endotoxin-induced NF-κB activation and TNFα expression. PXR activation also inhibited endotoxin-stimulated TNFα secretion from liver monocytes/macrophages isolated from PXR+/+ mice, but not from cells isolated from PXR−/− mice. To confirm that PXR activation inhibits NF-κB in vivo, 3x-κB-luc fibrotic mice (which express a luciferase gene regulated by NF-κB) were imaged after treatment with the hepatotoxin CCl4. PXR activator inhibited the induction of hepatic NF-κB activity without affecting CCl4 toxicity/hepatic damage. Using a PXR reporter gene assay, cyclosporin A – but not FK506 – was shown to be a direct PXR activator, and also to induce expression of the classic PXR-regulated CYP3A4 gene in human hepatocytes and in a cell line null for the FXR, a nuclear receptor with similar properties to the PXR. Conclusion: PXR activation is anti-inflammatory in the liver and the effects of cyclosporin A in PBC disease recurrence may be mediated in part via the PXR. Since PXR activation promotes hepatocyte growth and is also anti-fibrogenic, the PXR may be an excellent drug target for the treatment of chronic inflammatory liver disease.

In this study, we determined the role of the nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-B) subunit c-Rel in liver injury and regeneration. In response to toxic injury of the liver, c-Rel null (c-rel ؊/؊ ) mice displayed a defect in the neutrophilic inflammatory response, associated with impaired induction of RANTES (Regulated upon Activation, Normal T-cell Expressed, and Secreted; also known as CCL5). The subsequent fibrogenic/wound-healing response to both chronic carbon tetrachloride and bile duct ligation induced injury was also impaired and this was associated with deficiencies in the expression of fibrogenic genes, collagen I and ␣-smooth muscle actin, by hepatic stellate cells. We additionally report that c-Rel is required for the normal proliferative regeneration of hepatocytes in response to toxic injury and partial hepatectomy. From the

HighlightsThe first demonstration of phenobarbital-induced hepatocyte proliferation in 3D liver microtissue models.Integration of quantitative histopathology data with genomics (transcriptomics/proteomics).In vitro cross-species risk assessment.CAR-mediated mode of action.Quantitative histopathology of 3D microtissues.

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