[Development of liver cirrhosis in rats following stimulation of hepatic macrophages].

Liver cirrhosis was induced in male Wistar rats weighing 200-250 g by subcutaneous injection of 0.25 ml of a 10% CCl4 solution per 100 g bw. Kupffer cells were stimulated with prodigiozan which was introduced at a 10-day interval in the course of fibrosis development. Under stimulation the injury to the parenchyma decreased; the total number of Kupffer macrophages and the degree of mononuclear infiltration of liver tissue increased, while fibroplasia diminished. The content of hydroxyproline in liver homogenates of prodigiozan-stimulated rats was half as much as compared with controls.