ABNORMAL DISTRIBUTION OF NERVE-FIBERS IN THE LIVER OF BILIARY ATRESIA

We investigated changes in the pattern of hepatic innervation in liver specimens from 15 infants with biliary atresia and 4 age-matched cont rols by immunohistochemical methods. In the control, nerve fibers iden tified by immunoreactivity for neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) an d S100 protein were present around the branches of hepatic arteries, p ortal veins and bile ducts in the portal areas and the hepatic lobules . In biliary atresia, NCAM and S100 positive nerve fibers were increas ed in the vicinity of the hepatic arteries and the portal veins in the enlarged portal areas, while no nerve fibers were observed around bil e ducts and periportal ductules which became NCAM positive. No innerva tion in the lobules was seen in any cases regardless of the histologic al alteration. These findings may suggest that the abnormal innervatio n in the liver with biliary atresia does not occur as a result of stru ctural changes in liver architecture caused by portal fibrosis and inf lammation, but is associated with immaturity or malformation of hepati c innervation in the patients.