Abstract
To assess the effect of splenectomy on hepatic fibrosis, male Sprague-Dawley rats were injectedpig serum intraperitoneally for 10 to 12 weeks with Or without splenectomy.
The degree of hepatic fibrosis, evaluated with histological findings and hydroxyproline content, was significantly greater in sham-operated animals than in splenectomized animals.
Hepatic prolyl hydroxylase activity in splenectomized group was lower than that of sham-operated group, although not statistically significant, whereas collagenase activity in the latter group was rather higher than that of the former group up to 8 weeks and thereafter the tendency was reversed.
Splenectomy was found to be effective in preventing rat hepatic fibrosis up to 12 weeks, however, the effect was not observed when splenectomy was done at 6th week during a course of 12 weeks pig Serum treatment.
These results suggest that the effect of splenectomy is preventive against pig serum induced rat liver fibrosis, at least, at certain stage. Although, mechanisms involved are remained to be elucidated.
