Diffuse Intralobular Liver Fibrosis in Dogs Naturally Infected with Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi

The aim of this study was to evaluate the diffuse intralobular fibrosis in dogs naturally infected with Leishmania (Leishmania) chagasi. One hundred five infected animals with positive serologic tests for Leishmania were divided into two clinical groups: 69 symptomatic animals and 36 asymptomatic. Special staining with Gomori, Heidenhain, Silver, and Picrosirius Red was applied to characterize fibrilopoesis. The tissue parasite load was measured by immunohistochemistry and associated histomorphometric analyses. Intralobular fibrosis was observed in all dogs, and more collagen deposition was confirmed in the infected animals than in the controls by these histomorphometric studies. There were significant differences among the distinct clinical groups. In fact, symptomatic dogs showed an increased collagen deposition in the liver compared with asymptomatic ones. A peculiar diffuse intralobular fibrosis, where the collagen fibers encircled small groups of hepatocyte(s), was observed in two cases (1.9%).