Histopathological and immunohistochemical study of hepatic stellate cells in patients with viral C chronic liver disease

Our aim was to establish a correlation between hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) activity within different areas of hepatic tissue and the degree of liver fibrosis, necroinflammation, and steatosis in patients with viral C chronic liver disease.We prospectively included 41 liver biopsies from patients with chronic hepatitis C or liver cirrhosis, prior to antiviral treatment. Our control group consisted of seven tissue samples, obtained from 10 to 38 weeks old embryos. We assessed the alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression using immunohistochemistry and a semi-quantitative scoring method.We found a strong correlation (p0.0001) between the number of activated HSCs and the stage of fibrosis in all examined areas. Necroinflammatory activity was significantly correlated (p0.05) with the number of activated HSCs in perivenular area (p=0.014) and intermediate area (p=0.018), and strongly correlated (p0.0001) in periportal and portal tracts and fibrous septa areas. We found no correlation between the degree of steatosis and the number of activated HSCs in the perivenular area (p=0.25), intermediate area (p=0.166) and in the periportal area (p=0.154); however, in the portal tracts and fibrous septa area we observed a significant correlation (p=0.022).The analysis of HSCs activity within specified areas of liver tissue may lead to new perspectives in early diagnosis of liver fibrosis and in the development of future antifibrinogenic therapies.