Abstract
To determine the significance of the expression of α-smooth-muscle actin in the fibrotic human liver, normal and diseased livers were stained with anti-α-smooth-muscle-actin antibody by an immunoperoxidase method. Vitamin A-containing lipocytes were also identified by the modified Kupffer's gold chloride method. In the normal human liver, lipocytes as well as vascular smooth muscle cells expressed α-smooth-muscle actin. In alcoholic liver disease, there was an increase in the cells positive for α-smooth-muscle actin adjacent to the fibrotic areas, but the response of lipocytes to the gold chloride reaction diminished. In chronic hepatitis, the cells positive for α-smooth-muscle actin increased around the enlarged portal areas, and the response to the gold chloride reaction did not change appreciably. An increase in the cells positive for α-smooth-muscle actin was associated with the progression of hepatic fibrosis in the liver of patients with alcoholic liver disease and chronic hepatitis.
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Yamaoka, K., Nouchi, T., Marumo, F. et al. α-Smooth-muscle actin expression in normal and fibrotic human livers. Digest Dis Sci 38, 1473–1479 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01308606
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01308606