Collagen and fibronectin of the liver in children with congenital fibrosis, an extrahepatic portal circulation block and post-hepatitis cirrhosis (an immunohistochemical study)

Immunofluorescence techniques were used to examine the distribution of Types I, III, IV and V collagen and fibronectin in the liver biopsy specimens from children with congenital liver fibrosis (CLF), extrahepatic portal blood circulation block, and cirrhosis developed following viral hepatitis. Both common patterns and characteristic features of the development of sclerotic processes were established. The common feature is the development of periportal connective tissue (CT) fibrosis mainly at the expense of Types I, III and V collagen and the accumulation of Types I, III, IV, V collagen and fibronectin in the walls of sinusoids during their "collagenization". The distinctive characteristic of posthepatic cirrhosis is the location of fibronectin and Type IV collagen in fibrous CT. Characteristic of CLF is high fibronectin concentrations in the areas of CT neoplasms along the periphery of portal tracts.