SERUM LAMININ IN HEPATOSPLENIC HUMAN SCHISTOSOMIASIS

Serum laminin level was measured in chronic hepatic schistosomiasis. A significant increase in the mean serum laminin levels was observed in patients with hepatosplenic (HS) schistosomiasis (2,57 +/- 0,83 U/ml), as compared to those in patients with the hepatointestinal (HI) form of the disease (1,38 +/- 0,45-U/ml) and in the control group (1,15 +/- 0,31 U/ml). In the HS patients there was a significant direct relation between serum laminin and percutaneous splenic pulp pressure (r = 0,68). These findings are compatible with an increased production of laminin in hepatosplenic schistosomiasis with may be related to the observed enlarged liver and spleen basement membranes in such disease.