Granuloma size is the variable most frequently used to evaluate the
immunopathogenesis of schistosome infections. However, hepatic fibrosis is
at the least an equally relevant variable. Hepatic fibrosis and the size of
circumoval granulomas are frequently dissociated in experimental murine
Schistosoma mansoni and S. japonicum infections. Virtually nothing is known
of the immunoregulation of schistosomal hepatic fibrosis. This review notes
many of the studies which have found discrepancies in granuloma volume and
hepatic fibrosis, attempts to put them in perspective and to evaluate
different methods of calculating changes in collagen synthesis or content.
