Perisinusoidal stellate cells of the liver: important roles in retinol metabolism and fibrosis

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Abstract
In mammals, liver perisinusoidal stellate cells play an important role as a main store of body retinol (vitamin A). This fat-soluble vitamin is essential for vision, and regulates differentiation and growth of many cell types during embryonal development as well as in adult tissues. Thus, many cell types require a continuous supply of retinol. The storage of retinol (as retinyl esters) in stellate cells ascertains ample access of retinol to such cells also during periods with a low dietary intake. In lower vertebrates such as fish, vitamin A-storing stellate cells are found not only in the hepatic lobule, but also in the connective tissues of organs like intestine, kidney, ovaries, testes, and gills. Extrahepatic vitamin A-storing stellate cells are found in higher vertebrates when excessive doses of vitamin A are administered. It is not clear at present whether these cells also play a role in retinol metabolism under normal conditions. Stellate cells proliferate in a fibrotic liver, and they have been fo...

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