Morphometric measurement of collagen in liver tissue with posthepatitis liver cirrhosis portal hypertension

Summary

A correct estimation of the collagen content in cirrhosis liver tissue and analysis of its relation to the degree of liver function injury are important to the clinician in the establishment of the diagnosis in the liver diseases. The author has performed the morphometric measurement of collagen with liver tissue pathological section by using TJTY-300 image analysis system. It was found that the cirrhotic liver tissue’s collagen area and collagen average grey degree were notably higher than those in normal men (P< 0. 05), average optical density was markedly lower than that in normal men (P< 0. 05), integral optical density had no significant difference (P> 0. 05) between patients and normal controls, but the integral optical density in cirrohtic liver was 1. 21 times that of normal men. It suggests that the collagen content in cirrhotic liver tissue increased obviously, the average density of the increased collagen was lower than that in the normal liver tissue and the density of increased collagen was not homogeneous. Comparison between normal controls and patients with different Child-Pugh liver function grades in liver tissue collagen parameters revealed that the cirrhotic liver’s collagen content can, to different degree, directly reflect the function status of cirrhotic liver.