Reconstruction and quantification of periportal bile ducts and Hering canal after bile duct ligation

Introduction: Bile duct ligation (BDL) is commonly used to study cholestasis and periportal fibrosis. Despite extensive studies, the spatial-temporal organization of the biliary tree in BDL remains unclear. Methods: To analyze and quantify the biliary tree after BDL, C57Bl/6N mice underwent BDL or sham operation and were observed for 6 hours to 28 days (n = 6/group). At predefined time-points (6h, 1 d, 3 d, 5 d, 7 d, 14 d and 28 d), blood and liver samples were collected for analysis of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to assess hepatic parenchymal injury and alkaline phosphata…