Abstract:

BACKGROUND: A significant gender difference can be found in the morbidity of liver cirrhosis and hepatoma between male and female. The liver has powerful ability to regenerate after injury or loss of tissue after operation, but whether or not a difference exists in the regeneration and succession of the hepatic cells remain unclear.
OBJECTIVE: To compare the hepatic regenerative capacity between male and female mice after partial hepatectomy.   
METHODS: Adult Kunming mice were subjected to partial hepatectomy. Both the resected and regenerated liver tissues were harvested, weighed, fixed and paraffin embedded for determination of proliferation. The 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) was injected peritoneal 2 hours before the mice were sacrificed. The liver structure and the morphology of hepatic cells were observed; liver regeneration rate and BrdU labeling index were compared at 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14 days after partial hepatectomy.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that there was no significant difference in liver structure and the morphology of hepatic cells after partial hepatectomy. No difference could be found in both liver regeneration rate and BrdU labeling index between male and female mice (P > 0.05). There is no significant difference in the capacity of hepatic regeneration after partial hepatectomy between male and female mice.