Morphological characteristics of the liver in different phases of the invasion Opisthorchis felineus in rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus

Morphological changes in the liver, as the main organ in which Opisthorchis felineus is localized, according to the literature, are characterized by significant structural differences in the acute and chronic phases of the disease. Comparative characteristics of the morphological changes in the liver in different phases of opisthorchiasis in the experiment in rabbits, such as Oryctolagus cuniculus, was not carried out. To simulate the acute and chronic phases of invasion, the animals were divided into two observation groups. The histological material was processed by standard methods, liver tissue sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and according to Van Gieson to identify connective tissue structures. Histological preparations were studied by the methods of light-optical microscopy with immersion, video microscopy with morphometry. As a result of the study, it was found that in the acute phase of opisthorchiasis, the general infiltration of the portal tract area prevails compared to the infiltration of the bile duct wall, in the chronic phase, the thickness of the infiltrate of the bile duct wall approaches the total values. The cellular composition of infiltrates is characterized by the presence of lymphocytes, fibroblasts, epithelioid cells and cells of foreign bodies in both phases, if macrophages predominate in the acute phase of invasion, then fibrocytes and mast cells predominate in the chronic phase. Hepatocytes in the acute phase have disturbances in the tinctorial properties of the karyolemma and cytoplasm, mainly due to grain segregation. In the chronic phase of opisthorchiasis, polyploid hepatocytes are found. The connective tissue of the portal tract region in both phases quantitatively predominates in comparison with the connective tissue of the region of the boundary plates. The maximum amount of connective tissue in the area of the portal tract in the chronic phase increases by 4.4 times compared with the acute phase of the parasitic disease. Thus, morphological changes in the liver of rabbits in different phases are characterized by both commonality and significant differences, consisting in different cellular composition of the invasion zone, the amount of connective tissue formed in different areas of the organ, and changes in hepatocytes.