Visualising liver fibrosis by phase-contrast X-ray imaging in common bile duct ligated mice

To determine whether phase-contrast X-ray imaging can be used to visualise directly the accumulated extracellular matrix proteins associated with liver fibrosis in common bile duct ligated mice.Twenty-six-week-old C57BL female mice were randomised into three groups. In groups 1 (n = 5) and 2 (n = 10), common bile duct ligation was conducted to produce secondary biliary cirrhosis. Mouse livers were then excised 15 (group 1) and 40 days (group 2) after the ligation of the common bile duct for imaging. In the control group, the livers of 5 mice were excised 40 days after the sham operation. Images were then acquired using the analyser crystal set at different positions of the rocking curve.The results show that the fibrotic septa and hepatic lobules enclosed by fibrotic septa can be visualised clearly at the whole organ level via phase-contrast X-ray imaging without any contrast agent.These results suggest that phase-contrast X-ray imaging can easily reveal the accumulated extracellular matrix proteins associated with liver fibrosis without using any contrast agent and has great potential in the study of liver fibrosis.