Post-hepatectomy regeneration of the murine liver: I. Effect upon Schistosoma mansoni lesions, before and after chemotherapy

Hepatic histopathological changes due to Schistosoma mansoni infection in the mouse presented considerable improvement following partial hepatectomy, both during early (acute) and late (chronic) infections, and especially when surgery was preceded by curative chemotherapy. A 60% hepatectomy removed a great deal of a diseased liver that was replaced by a normal-looking tissue in which schistosomal lesions appeared fewer and scattered. After chemotherapy, residual fibrosis left either from cured acute and chronic schistosomal lesions, almost completely disappeared when the regenerated liver was examined a month afterwards. These marked changes, brought about by hepatectomy in experimental hepatic schistosomiasis, illustrate the fact that post-hepatectomy regeneration tends to restore the normal structure of the liver, even in a diseased organ.