[The role of renin-angiotensin system independent angiotensin II production in progression and fibrosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma].

Angiotensin II (Ang II) plays an important role in stromal fibrosis and tumor progression in cancer tissues. Now we investigated the role of Ang II in the cross-interaction between intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) cells and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). The concentrations of Ang II in ICC tissues were significantly higher than those of hepatocellular carcinoma and normal liver. The expression of Ang II type 1 receptor (AT-1) in ICC specimens, two ICC cell lines, and HSC cell line, LI-90 was demonstrated by immunostain and Western blot. The proliferative activity of ICC cells and HSCs added Ang II dose-dependently increased and telmisartan inhibited the proliferative effects in MTT assay. HSCs added Ang II showed a higher expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) compared with control cells. Telmisartan also inhibited the activation of HSCs added Ang II. Ang II in ICC tissues may play a pivotal role in tumor growth and stromal fibrosis and Ang II receptor blocker will be a potential therapy in cancer tissue expressing AT-1.