Effect of chronic iron overload on procollagen gene expression
Faye D. Roberts, Paul Charalambous, Linda Fletcher, Lawrie W. Powell, June W. Halliday – 1 September 1993 – The pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis in genetic hemochromatosis may involve a direct effect of excess iron on collagen synthesis in the liver. To investigate this theory, we measured procollagen messenger RNA levels (types I, III and IV) in the livers of rats in which we produced chronic parenchymal iron overload by feeding them dietary carbonyl iron (2.5%, wt/wt) for up to 18 mo.