Clinical significance of connective tissue growth factor in hepatitis B virus-induced hepatic fibrosis

Figure 2 Cellular localization of key fibrotic markers in hepatitis B virus -induced liver fibrosis. α-SMA-positive hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) were not detectable in hepatitis B virus carriers who had normal liver histology (A) but were present in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) liver (B). In CHB liver samples, there was no staining when the in situ hybridization probes were omitted (C) but their inclusion demonstrated the presence of either connective tissue growth factor mRNA in activated HSCs (D) or transforming growth factor β-1 mRNA in activated HSCs (E) or Kupffer cells (F). F4/80 antigen-positive Kupffer cells (G). Original magnification, × 400 in A-G. Examples of postively stained cells in each panel are arrowed.