Hepatic regeneration after partial hepatectomy in mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni, at the acute and chronic phases of the disease.

Outbred male albino mice normal or infected with 30 cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni (LE strain) were submitted to 65% hepatectomy during the acute (70 days) and chronic phase (160 days) phases of the disease. A group of the infected animals was treated with 400 mg/kg of oxamniquine during the acute phase before hepatectomy. Non-infected, infected and treated but not hepatectomized animals were kept as controls. Hepatic regeneration was evaluated by incorporation of tritiated thymidine, intraperitoneally injected into non-hepatectomized and hepatectomized animals, 24 hours after surgery. The results showed that removal of 65% of the hepatic parenchyma, during the acute phase, led to a statistically significant increase of thymidine incorporation, when compared with the uninfected hepatectomized controls. This phenomenon was not observed at the chronic phase. Treatment with oxamniquine administered during the acute phase led to a decrease in thymidine incorporation rate 160 days after infection (90 days after treatment) and 24 hours after hepatectomy. The data suggest that infection with S. mansoni represents a considerable stimulus for the regenerative capacity of the liver during the acute, but not the chronic phase of disease.