Kinetics of macrophages, myofibroblasts and mast cells in carbon tetrachloride-induced rat liver cirrhosis

Background: Recently, activation of macrophages, myofibroblasts and mast cells have been thought to be associated with liver fibrosis. The present study investigated the kinetics of these cells and the numeric relationship in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) - induced rat liver cirrhosis. Materials and Methods: Macrophages and myofibroblasts were observed with immunohistochemistry and mast cells were detected by toluidine blue. Results: Mast cells increased in proportion to the development of fibrosis with a maximum number on week 14. The numbers of macrophages and myofibroblasts increased during weeks 0 to 10 but decreased from weeks 12 to 14. Conclusion: The numbers of macrophages and myofibroblasts increased in the development of fibrosis but decreased when cirrhosis was induced. However, mast cells increased in both. Therefore, there was a numerical relationship among the numbers of macrophages, myofibroblasts and mast cells in liver fibrosis but none between the former two cells and the mast cells in liver cirrhosis.