Laser therapy reduced the inflammatory reaction, induced increased collagen deposition and a greater proliferation of myofibroblasts in experimental cutaneous wounds.

Schistosoma mansoni infection invariably results in liver fibrosis of the host. This fibrosis may be represented by small focal areas of chronic inflammation and excess extracellular matrix deposited in periovular granulomas, distributed in variable numbers at the periphery of the portal vein system. This is the outcome of 90% of the infected population in endemic areas. Conversely, a minority of infected individuals develop extensive disease with numerous granulomas along the entire extension of the portal spaces. This latter situation is mainly dependent on special hemodynamic changes created by a heavy worm load, with the subsequent production of numerous eggs and represents a severe form of a peculiar chronic hepatopathy. Thus, host-parasite interactions in schistosomiasis help us to understand a number of important features of liver fibrosis: its initiation and regulation, the significance of accompanying vascular changes, the dynamics of fibrosis formation and regression with antiparasitic treatment; host genetic and immunological contributions, and the pathophysiology of portal hypertension.

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Advanced schistosomiasis produces in man one of the most characteristic gross picture presentation of hepatic pathology. On the cut surface of the liver this lesion appears as whitish fibrous plaques replacing portal spaces on a background of normal looking hepatic parenchyma (Fig. 1C, D). Exactly one century ago, Symmers (1904) classically described this picture after performing autopsies in Egypt. It represents the anatomical counterpart of the clinical condition known as hepatosplenic schistosomiasis. A cursory gross and microscopic examination of the lesion will reveal important clues about its pathogenesis. It can then be noted that the lesion resulted from the deposition of numerous schistosome eggs along the periportal tissues, which provoked chronic granulomatous inflammation with consequent fibrous expansion of the portal spaces and intrahepatic portal vein obstruction. The parenchyma usually maintains its normal architecture, in a good correlation with the preservation of the normal hepatic function, as usually exhibited by the patients. The presence of numerous eggs points to the pathogenetic importance of worm load. Thus, schistosomal hepatopathy seems a good example of a straightforward condition, with a simple, characteristic, and understandable pathology.Although these main lines mentioned above are correct, they say little about the complexities that this unique type of chronic hepatopathy discloses when more closely and properly investigated. A closer view of its physiopathology will reveal several points of interests that are usually overlooked, but that are important for the understanding of the disease in patients and so are worth discussing here. Schistosomal hepatopathy represents a special type of a chronic liver disease. Its pathology contains unique features, one of the most important refers to its vascular changes, which differs from those found in cirrhosis, and are key factors for the understanding of the fundamental pathogenesis and the clinical potential for evolution presented by hepatosplenic schistosomiasis.