[Localization of immune complexes in the liver in experimental cirrhosis].

The chronic course of viral and toxic hepatitis is associated with the involvement into the pathogenesis of the disease of the immune processes whose mechanisms remain obscure. An attempt was made to elucidate the localization of immune complexes in the liver of rats with CCl4-induced cirrhosis of the liver according to the method by Yu. F. Kubitsa. Immune complexes were found in macrophages and lymphocytes infiltrating perivascular spaces and walls of veins undergoing degeneration. This indicates a possible role of cell-mediated reactions in the damage of blood vessels and hepatic parenchyma in cirrhosis. Immune complexes wee also found in the hepatocyte nuclei which suggests a damaging effect of antibody on the hepatic tissue in cases of complement activation.