Acute lethal graft-versus-host disease stimulates cellular proliferation in the adult rat liver

The present investigation was designed to analyse the effects of acute lethal graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in adult (DA x LEW)F1 rats on cellular proliferation within the liver. The influence of the host thymus on GVHD-induced proliferation was also assessed. From 1-28 days after initiation of GVHD [3H]thymidine ([3H]-TdR) was injected i.v. and rats were killed one hour later. Percentage labelled cells (LI) of periportal infiltrating cells (PIC), hepatocytes (H), and sinusoidal lining cells (SC) were counted. Mean values for control rats were 0.3 +/- 0.1% (H), 0.4 +/- 0.1% (SC) and 0.2 +/- 0.1% (PIC). GVHD rats demonstrated a significant increase in LI of PIC (days 1-21), SC (days 2-17) and H (days 2-17). Most labelled cells in PIC were large lymphocytes. Peak LI values were 7.0 +/- 1.0% PIC (day 17), 6.8 +/- 0.9% SC (day 17), and 5.2 +/- 0.9% H (day 7), with all cellular compartments returning to near normal LI values by day 28. Stimulation of cellular proliferation occurred in all three liver cell compartments in neonatally thymectomized (TXM) rats. The intensity of GVHD-induced cell proliferation was significantly decreased at day 7 in all compartments and PIC was dramatically decreased at day 21 in TXM-GVHD rats as compared to non-TXM-GVHD rats. It is hypothesized that the general stimulation of hepatocyte cell proliferation in GVHD is related to the secretion of lymphokines by primarily donor and secondarily host T cells in the periportal infiltrate.