title: Decreased hepatic nerve fiber innervation in patients with liver cirrhosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hepatic nerve innervation plays important roles in hepatic metabolism and hemodynamic mechanisms. We compared the distribution patterns of hepatic nerves between normal livers and two liver diseases to elucidate the effects of liver disease on the distribution of hepatic nerves.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tissue specimens were obtained by ultrasonography-guided needle biopsies from 10 normal controls, 74 patients with chronic hepatitis (CH), and 35 patients with liver cirrhosis (LC). The obtained specimens were immunohistochemically stained using antibodies for S-100 protein and alpha-smooth-muscle actin (alpha-SMA). The degree of the expression in liver tissues was quantified by manual counting of positively stained nerve fibers under light microscopy. The serum hyaluronic acid level was assayed in all subjects to evaluate hepatic fibrosis. Electron microscopy examinations were also performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The hepatic nerve innervation was significantly lower in LC than in normal controls, as indicated by S-100 protein staining. alpha-SMA and hyaluronic acid levels were higher in LC and CH than in normal controls. Electron microscopy revealed that unmyelinated nerve fiber bundles in the intralobar connective tissue coursed in the vicinity of hepatic triads.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that hepatic nerve innervation can be decreased by hepatic inflammatory responses and/or fibrotic changes in LC patients. Further study is needed to clarify this observation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Medical College of the Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Soon Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Hyun Joo
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Su Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Back
authors.forename: Tae Hun
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Se Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Joon-Yeol
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Kwon
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Young Suk
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kyu Won
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Chung