[Features of the destructive and reparative processes of the liver in various types of acute experimental peritonitis].

In experiments on 135 albino rats, present-day techniques were used to examine the time-course of hepatic destructive and reparative processes during various courses of acute experimental peritonitis (AEP). The magnitude of destructive changes in the liver was found to be directly related to the severity of peritoneal lesion, degree of intoxication, and immunologic reactivity of the body. Within the first 4-5 days of AEP, the liver was regenerated mainly by intracellular hyperplasia. On days 3-4 the mitotic activity of hepatocytes markedly increased, reaching its maximum on day 5 of the experiment. Destructive and suppurative changes predominated over reparative ones in the organ in AEP treated with the immunodepressant azathioprine. In contrast, the administration of the cellular immunity stimulant, levamisole++, to the experimental animals was followed by drastically increased mononuclear infiltration, hepatic stromal cell proliferation and reparative hepatocyte regeneration.