[Browicz's phagocytic cells and Kupffer's 'so-called stellate cells'].

Abstract

Kupffer (1876) attempted to demonstrate nerve fibers in the liver, using the gold chloride method and found the star-shaped perisinusoidal cells by chance. He named these cells 'Sternzellen' (stellate cells). The stellate cells have been studied enthusiastically within the past thirty years. It has been clarified that these cells are the same cells reported as Ito's 'fat-storing cells', as well as Suzuki's 'interstitial cells', store vitamin A in the lipid droplets, and produce collagen type I, III, and IV and intercellular matrix, playing an important role in fibrogenesis in the liver. Kupffer (1898) changed his earlier opinion, and concluded that the 'so-called stellate cells' were the special endothelial cells of hepatic sinusoids, which incorporate foreign substance. Though Kupffer's revised opinion contained a serious misunderstanding, his new concept was accepted widely for several decades. Browicz (1898) at Kracow in Poland, reported phagocytic cells within the lumen of hepatic sinusoids. However, his report was given but scant attention. In this paper, the author introduces Browicz's report and considers the reason why his report has been disregarded.