Structural Changes in the Liver in Post-Toxic Cirrhosis and Its Treatment with Oxidized Dextran. Immunohistochemical...

In adult Wistar rats, post-toxic liver cirrhosis was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 50% oil solution of CCl₄ and peroral administration of 6.5% aqueous solution of ethyl alcohol over 60 days. Histological examination of the liver revealed vacuolar degeneration and necrosis of hepatocytes, formation of false lobules, expression of collagens I and III periportally and in interlobular spaces, ascites, and hydrothorax. Then, oxidized dextran with a molecular weight of 40 kDa (2 ml of a 5% aqueous solution) was intraperitoneally injected every fourth day over 30 days. Against the background of treatment with oxidized dextran, the volume density of collagens I and III decreased by more than 2 times, the "collagen-producing" activity of fibroblasts decreased by 47%, and the number of fibroblasts decreased, including by the mechanism of apoptosis. The decrease in the collagen content in the liver of rats treated with oxidized dextran was apparently associated with blockade of collagen assembly due to the aldehyde-aldehyde interaction of tropocollagens and oxidized dextran.