QUANTITATIVE-EVALUATION OF LYSOZYME-POSITIVE AND CD68-POSITIVE KUPFFER CELLS IN DIETHYLNITROSAMINE-INDUCED HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMAS IN MONKEYS

Quantitative analysis of lysozyme- and CD68-positive Kupffer cells was carried out in connection with diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocarci nogenesis in non-human primates, The number of Kupffer cells/mm(2) was determined in 28 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and seven ag e-matched controls, The Kupffer cell counts (mean +/- SEM) gradually d ecreased in the following order, irrespective of the histochemical mar kers (lysozyme or CD 68) used: healthy control liver (101.7 +/- 13.5 a nd 103.2 +/- 11.9 respectively), non-cirrhotic and non-neoplastic host liver (54.3 +/- 13.6 and 50.5 +/- 15.4), cirrhotic host liver (26.2 /- 8.2 and 27.2 +/- 3.3), HCC tissue (20.7 +/- 4.4 and 19.3 +/- 4.1) a nd metastatic foci in the lung (9.8 +/- 1.8 and 9.7 +/- 2.8), The diff erence between the normal liver and the non-neoplastic, non-cirrhotic portions of the HCC-bearing liver was significant (P < 0.05), A highly significant difference was found between the number of Kupffer cells found in healthy control or non-neoplastic liver and those found in HC C nodules (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.0005 respectively), The results obtain ed by hematoxylin and eosin staining and lysozyme/CD68 immunohistochem istry were highly similar, indicating that this decrease was attributa ble primarily to numeric loss of Kupffer cells, The results suggest th at the reduction in the number of Kupffer cells in HCC is a constant f eature of hepatocarcinogenesis not only in rodent models, but also in non-human primates.