LECTIN HISTOCHEMISTRY IN RAT-LIVER FIBROSIS INDUCED BY HETEROLOGOUS SERUM SENSITIZATION

The localization of carbohydrates in rat livers with fibrosis induced by heterologous serum was examined by lectin histochemical and biochem ical techniques. Twenty-four lectins were used to visualize the differ ent carbohydrates in paraffin sections of normal and fibrotic liver ti ssues. No differences in staining patterns of these lectins were obser ved between normal and fibrotic livers in hepatocyte cell membranes in cluding bile canaliculi, sinusoidal endothelial, or bile ductal cells. Kupffer cells strongly stained with Vicia villosa agglutinin (VVA) we re seen only in the periportal zone of the normal liver, but they were observed in the periportal zone and scattered throughout the pseudolo bular zone in the fibrotic liver. The cytoplasm of some hepatocytes wa s strongly stained by Bandeiraea simplicifolia lectin-I (BSL-I). BSL-I positive hepatocytes in normal liver were localized in the periportal zone, but those in the fibrotic liver were scattered in the periporta l and perifibrous zones. After polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of l iver glycoproteins, differences in molecular sizes of BSL-I positive g lycoproteins (79 and 81 kD) were detected by lectin blotting. Cell den sity of perifibrous BSL-I positive hepatocytes may be useful as a diag nostic parameter for liver fibrosis and/or cirrhosis. Two distinct sta ining patterns with twelve lectins were observed in fibrotic septa of the fibrotic liver. The fibrotic septa were stained with six character istic lectins, and the centrilobular septa were stained with all these twelve of lectins. Histopathological assessment of the centrilobular fibrotic septa stained with these characteristic lectins may contribut e to the diagnosis and prognosis of hepatic fibrosis.