Fig. 1

The hematoxylin and eosin stained liver tissues of sham-operated and bile duct ligated rats. The histological structure of sham groups was normal and ductular proliferation and inflammation were absent. The livers of nicotine-treated rats had some degree of portal tract expansion. Portal expansion with the portal-to-portal linkage was the distinctive feature of the bile duct ligated group. Livers of nicotine-treated bile duct ligated rats displayed enhanced degrees of pathological damage and were associated with increased proliferation of biliary epithelia which shows itself as tube-like structures at the periportal region of the liver of nicotine-treated bile duct ligated rats and its intensity was much more in saline-treated bile duct ligated liver samples. All hematoxylin and eosin staining were repeated three times