miR-124 Improving OJ-induced Liver Injury through Downregulation of Hedgehog Pathway under Exercise Intervention

In order to study the protective effect of aerobic exercise on OJ (obstructive jaundice)-induced liver injury in mice, and explore the possible liver protection mechanism of aerobic exercise from the miR-124-mediated regulation of Hedgehog pathway, KM mice were used to construct a cholestatic jaundice model. They were randomly divided into model group (M), aerobic exercise group (TE), and blank group (SO), with 15 mice in each group. General observation, ELISA technique, HE staining, liver tissue fibrosis and inflammatory indicator detection, qRT-PCR were employed to verify the improvement mechanism of regular aerobic exercise. The results indicated that in M group, many parts were yellow stained, and the urine color became darker. The stool was light gray. After anatomy, cystic dilatation could be observed at the bile duct suspension. Compared with SO group, the contents of TBIL, TBA, ALT, AST, ALP proteins and inflammatory factors TNF-α, IL-1β, NF-κB p65, and MMP-9 in serum were significantly increased, while anti-inflammatory factor IL-10 was significantly reduced (P<0.01). Compared with M group, liver function indicators and inflammatory factor expression in TE group were significantly improved; IL-10 protein content was significantly increased; wet liver weight decreased, and liver fibrosis indicators HA, LN, IV-C, PIIINP protein content decreased (P<0.01). Under the microscope, it could be seen that the liver cords in M group were disorderly arranged; vacuoles, mitosis and degeneration appeared in large number, accompanied with severe liver fibrosis, and the symptoms of liver cell injury in TE group were significantly alleviated. Compared with M group, miR-124 expression in TE group was significantly increased (P<0.01), while shh, Ptch-1, Gli1 mRNA expression was reduced (P<0.01). In conclusion, regular aerobic exercise can alleviate the cholestatic jaundice-induced inflammatory reaction by upregulating miR-124 downregulation of related protein and gene levels of Hedgehog pathway, so as to improve the liver injury.