title: On the presence of hepatic stellate cells in portal spaces.
abstract: Previous studies in mice with hypervitaminosis A have demonstrated that fat-storing cells (hepatic stellate cells-HSCs) participate in schistosomal granuloma fibrogenesis. The origin of such cells in portal areas, away from the Disse spaces, was herein investigated. HSCs were identified in frozen sections of the liver by means of Sudan III staining. They appeared as red-stained cells disposed along the sinusoids of normal mice, but were never found within portal spaces. However, in the chronically inflamed portal spaces of Capillaria hepatica-infected mice, Sudan III-positive cells were frequently present among leukocytes and fibroblast-like cells. Thus, there are no resident HSCs in portal spaces, but their presence there in chronic inflammatory processes indicates that they are able to migrate from peri-sinusoidal areas in order to reach the portal areas.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Patologia Experimental, Centro de Pesquisas Gonçalo Moniz, Fiocruz, 40295-001 Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Yánnick de Oliveira
authors.initials: YO
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.forename: Camila Bião
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Elisângela Trindade
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Zilton A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Andrade
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005110:Extracellular Space; D005260:Female; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D011168:Portal System / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar