The dynamics of collagen deposition in liver damaged by CCl4

The rates of synthesis and catabolism of collagen are determined in the livers of normal rats and of rats treated with carbon tetrachloride. Several experimental conditions are applied with the intention of investigating the dynamic processes separately, in order to determine the relevant values. The deposition of collagen in liver after damage by CCl4 is a consequence of the reduction of turnover with a simultaneous increase in collagen-production. Together with the increase in synthesis, which seems to be a consequence of a numerical increase in cells, there is a reduction in catabolism of collagen: the more severe the damage, the more marked is the decrease of specific catabolism. Collagen-deposition in the liver is thus the result of accumulation. The results indicate the possibility that collagen-catabolism is effected by enzymes produced by adjacent parenchymal cells, so that their destruction enhances the accumulation of collagen material. The findings mentioned above are discussed in the context of the general criteria of scar-formation and the repair of damaged tissues.