Astrocyte response to perinatal liver disease, hyperammonemia, and hyperbilirubinemia: an immunohistochemical study

Astrocytic reaction to perinatal brain damage, which is caused by hyperammonemia, liver disease, hyperbilirubinemia, and a few other conditions, was studied using immunohistochemical methods for the demonstration of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). We found no increase in GFAP expression in those areas where Alzheimer II astrocytes usually proliferate. Diffuse astrocytic proliferation in the white matter and focal reaction in gray matter, which we ascribe to complicating factors, the foremost of which is anoxia, was found in many of the cases.