The Study On The Importance Of KCs And HSCs In The Progression Of Liver Fibrosis In Hepatic Alveolar Echinococcosis

Objective: The study aimed to investigate the anti-echinococcosis effect of Kupffer cells(KCs)and the effects of hepatic stellate cells(HSCs)activation on the progression of liver fibrosis in hepatic alveolar echinococcosis(hepatic AE).Method: Liver tissue and serum from 33 patients with definite diagnosis of hepatic alve`olar echinococcosis were collected.The serum biochemical indicators were measured to evaluate the liver function of patients.Hematoxylin-eosin(H&E)and Masson staining were used to assess the pathological inflammatory changes and collagen deposition respectively.Immunohistochemical detection of CD68,CD163,i NOS,Arg-1 positive distributions to observe the KCs’ activation,expression of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines,α-SMA and Desmin were detected to observe the distribution of HSCs.Detection the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α,anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10,pro-fibrotic TGF-β1 m RNA and HSC activation-related cytokine α-SMA and Desmin in patients’ liver tissues by q RT-PCR.Results: Some results of liver function in patients with hepatic AE were significantly different from those in healthy controls(P<0.01).In the close group,H&E staining showed that the normal lobular structure was destroyed,inflammatory infiltration around the lesion could be observed and Masson staining showed that blue collagen fibers were clearly deposited near the portal area.IHC showed that KCs surface markers CD68 and CD163,cytokine i NOS and Arg-1 were positively expressed in the vicinity of inflammatory lesions.q RT-PCR indicated that TNF-α,IL-10 and TGF-β1 secreted by KCs were significantly higher than those in the distance group(P < 0.01).Interestingly,the expression levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines were slightly higher than that of pro-inflammatory cytokines.Both Immunohistochemistry and q RT-PCR results showed that HSCs activation markers,the expression of α-SMA and Desmin was significantly increased.Conclusion: Our research indicates that KCs have immune-protective effect of liver fiber repair,suggesting that they have potential therapeutic value for patients with hepatic AE.