Locational and quantitative study of hepatic oval cells in chronic liver diseases-Pathologic analysis of 29 liver samples from patients with chronic liver diseases / 中华消化杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the morphological characteristics of oval cells in human chronic liver diseases, and determine whether there is a relationship between the number of oval cells and liver fibrotic stage. Methods Oval cells were detected in paraffin bedded liver sections of 3 normal subjects (as controls) and 29 chronic liver diseases, using histoimmunochemistry. Cells were counted if they fulfiled the morphological criteria for oval cells and showed cytoplasmic staining. Results Oval cells were not observed in normal livers. In chronic liver diseases, oval cells were located predominantly in the periportal region and fibrosis septa, characterized by an ovoid nucleus, small size, and scant cytoplasmic. The number of oval cells increased significantly ( F=22.60, P