Abstract: Objective To study the expression of hepatic growth factor(HGF) and C-met in reserved liver tissue after partial hepatectomy of rats with hepatic fibrosis. Methods Totally 130 SD rats were randomly divided into four groups: normal group （n=7）, group of normal rats with partial hepatectomy(EM>n/EM>=50)，hepatic fibrotic group(EM>n/EM>=7), and group of hepatic fibrotic rats with partial hepatectomy(EM>n/EM>=66). Rats were killed after operation 12 hours, 1 day, 3 days, 5 days, 7 days and 14 days separately, then HGF and C-met of reserved liver tissues were detected with immunohistochemistry staining and Western blotting. Results In the group of normal rats with partial hepatectomy, immunohistochemistry staining indicated that the expression of HGF and C-met increased to get the peak point after partialhepatectomy 12 hours and 3 days respectively, and HGF maintained at the high level to the 7th day, then decreased gradually, finaly approched to the level of pro-operation at 14th day, but C-met fell sharply，and declined to the the level of pro-operation at the 14th day. In the group of hepatic fibrotic rats with partial hepatectomy, the expression of HGF and C-met decreased sharply after operation 12 hours, next HGF increased to get the peak point at the 1st day, and then declined speedily, and decreased to the bottom at the 14th day, but C-met declined to the bottom at the 3rd day, then increased slightly till the 7th day, affter that increased sharply to the summit at the 14th day. Western blotting analysis showed the results of HGF and C-met coincided with that of immunohistochemistry. Conclusion The high isochronous expression of HGF and C-met in hepatic tissue is propitious to hepatocellular division, Which indicates that the expresson out of step of HGF and C-met might be the key reason of hard regeneration of fi

Key words: Hepatic fibrosis, Partial hepatectomy, Hepatic growth factor, C-met, Immunohistochemistry, Western blotting, Rat