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Autoimmune hepatitis, formerly known as lupoid hepatitis, plasma cell hepatitis, or autoimmune chronic active hepatitis, is a chronic, autoimmune disease of the liver that occurs when the body's immune system attacks liver cells, causing the liver to be inflamed.
The liver plays a vital role in many metabolic processes in the body including protein synthesis, detoxification, nutrient storage (such as glycogen), platelet production and clearance of bilirubin. With progressive liver damage; hepatocyte death and replacement of functional liver tissue with fibrosis in cirrhosis, these processes are disrupted.
Many families who do not have safe drinking water or live in unhygienic homes have contracted hepatitis because saliva and blood droplets are often carried through the water and blood-borne illnesses spread quickly in unsanitary settings. [30] Hepatitis B and C can present either acutely or chronically. [17]
Each cell has several long cytoplasmic protrusions that extend from the cell body and wrap around the sinusoids. [5] The lipid droplets in the cell body store vitamin A as retinyl palmitate. [6] Hepatic stellate cells store 50–80% of the body's vitamin A. [6] The function and role of quiescent hepatic stellate cells is unclear.
Oxidative DNA damage is mutagenic [27] and also causes epigenetic alterations at the sites of DNA repair. [28] Epigenetic alterations and mutations affect the cellular machinery that may cause the cell to replicate at a higher rate or result in the cell avoiding apoptosis , and thus contribute to liver disease. [ 29 ]
Liver regeneration is the process by which the liver is able to replace damaged or lost liver tissue. The liver is the only visceral organ with the capacity to regenerate. [1] [2] The liver can regenerate after partial hepatectomy or injury due to hepatotoxic agents such as certain medications, toxins, or chemicals. [3]
Histopathology of a ballooning hepatocyte.png, H&E stain. Ballooning degeneration centre-left and centre-right. H&E stain. A Councilman body can also be seen in the upper-right of the section. In histo pathology, ballooning degeneration, formally ballooning degeneration of hepatocytes, is a form of liver parenchymal cell (i.e. hepatocyte) death.
Macroscopically, the liver has a pale and spotty appearance in affected areas, as stasis of the blood causes pericentral hepatocytes (liver cells surrounding the central venule of the liver) to become deoxygenated compared to the relatively better-oxygenated periportal hepatocytes adjacent to the hepatic arterioles.