COLLAGENASE IN EXPERIMENTAL CARBON-TETRACHLORIDE CIRRHOSIS OF LIVER

  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 92  (2) , 411-420
Abstract
The presence and distribution of collagenase in experimental CCl4 cirrhosis of the liver in rats was studied by immunohistochemical techniques. A monospecific anti-rat uterus collagenase antibody was raised in rabbits and used for indirect immunofluorescence staining of liver obtained from rats in both the reversible and irreversible stages of CCl4-induced cirrhosis. Collagenase is presently associated with connective tissue septa as long as cirrhosis is reversible, and it is not detectable in the irreversible stage. In animals sacrificed during the transition between the reversible and irreversible stages of cirrhosis, collagenase appeared bound to the outer surfaces of connective tissue septa and was absent from the deeper portions. The irreversibility of experimental CCl4 cirrhosis of the liver is associated with a disturbance in the mechanisms of collagen degradation, which may be a deficiency in collagenase activity, a change in the susceptibility of the substrate, or a combination of both factors.