Histopathological features of liver tissue in non-alcoholic and alcoholic steatohepatitis depending on the presence of concomitant anemia

Abstract

The aim: to study some histopathological changes in the liver affected by steatohepatitis of various etiologies with the presence of anemia. Material and methods. Liver biopsies were analyzed in 30 patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and 20 patients with alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH). The morphological examination of the liver was carried out according to the standard methods. The histopathological features of the liver were established on the basis of hematoxylin and eosin staining method, with confirmation, if necessary, by the histochemical methods - staining for fat (method with Sudan-III) and collagen fibers (method with chromotropic-water blue by NZ Slinchenko). Microspectrophotometric studies were performed using a cytological analyzer with software "VideoTest - Size 5.0" (2000). Results. A number of parameters revealed the statistical differences in the average trends with the use of the nonparametric Mann-Whitney method (p<0.05). The highest rate of hepatocyte necrosis was observed in the patients with ASH with anemia, in particular, more than a third of hepatocytes in these patients had signs of colic necrosis, which was more pronounced in ASH than in NASH. NASH with anemia was accompanied by more pronounced necrosis of hepatocytes than NASH without anemia. In ASH without anemia, the percentage of affected hepatocytes was on average approximately the same as in NASH without anemia. Fatty dystrophy of hepatocytes was observed in all the patients with NASH and ASH, but the severity of the general pathological process was not the same. Conclusions. Due to the comorbidity of fatty liver disease with anemia in both NASH and ASH, a much higher percentage of hepatocytes affected by reversible swelling are formed, which coincides with the tendency for hepatocyte oncosis. Anemia affects the nature of connective tissue growth in NASH and ASH (in ASH, the specific volume of connective tissue was higher than in NASH). At the same time, the intensity of regenerative processes in the liver (ductal reactions of the liver) is most pronounced in patients with anemia, and most - in ASH.