The Morphology of Vacuolated Cells in the Liver Following Administration of Vitamin A.

Author(s):  
Odell T. Minick ◽  
Hidejiro Yokoo ◽  
Fawzia Batti

Vacuolated cells in the liver of young rats were studied by light and electron microscopy following the administration of vitamin A (200 units per gram of body weight). Their characteristics were compared with similar cells found in untreated animals.In rats given vitamin A, cells with vacuolated cytoplasm were a prominent feature. These cells were found mostly in a perisinusoidal location, although some appeared to be in between liver cells (Fig. 1). Electron microscopy confirmed their location in Disse's space adjacent to the sinusoid and in recesses between liver cells. Some appeared to be bordering the lumen of the sinusoid, but careful observation usually revealed a tenuous endothelial process separating the vacuolated cell from the vascular space. In appropriate sections, fenestrations in the thin endothelial processes were noted (Fig. 2, arrow).

Author(s):  
J.C.S. Kim ◽  
M.G. Jourden ◽  
E.S. Carlisle

Chronic exposure to nitrogen dioxide in rodents has shown that injury reaches a maximum after 24 hours, and a reparative adaptive phase follows (1). Damage occurring in the terminal bronchioles and proximal portions of the alveolar ducts in rats has been extensively studied by both light and electron microscopy (1).The present study was undertaken to compare the response of lung tissue to intermittent exposure to 10 ppm of nitrogen dioxide gas for 4 hours per week, while the hamsters were on a vitamin A deficient diet. Ultrastructural observations made from lung tissues obtained from non-gas exposed, hypovitaminosis A animals and gas exposed animals fed a regular commercially prepared diet have been compared to elucidate the specific effect of vitamin A on nitrogen dioxide gas exposure. The interaction occurring between vitamin A and nitrogen dioxide gas has not previously been investigated.


Author(s):  
Carla Stehr

Focal and diffuse areas of nonneoplastic vacuolated cells in the liver have been observed with light microscopy in up to 12% of the demersal rock sole (Lepidopsetta bilineata) inhabiting Eagle Harbor, which is a contaminated bay in Puget Sound. A similar type of liver vacuolation has also been observed at higher prevalences in winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) inhabiting contaminated areas of Boston Harbor. This paper compares the ultrastructure of vacuolated liver lesions in feral rock sole with that of winter flounder from contaminated areas of Puget Sound and Boston Harbor, respectively.Rock sole from Eagle Harbor, Puget Sound, and winter flounder from Boston Harbor, were collected by bottom trawl from NOAA research vessels. Fish were killed and immediately necropsied. Adjacent pieces of tissue were collected for light and electron microscopy from grossly visible liver lesions or from the center of the liver. Samples collected for histology were fixed in Dietrich's solution, embedded in paraffin and stained with H&E.


1964 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. Lafontaine ◽  
C. Allard

The cytological changes induced in rat liver cells by the aminoazo dye 2-Me-DAB have been examined by light and electron microscopy. It is observed that this non-carcinogenic compound duplicates most of the morphological alterations produced by other hepatotoxins, some of which, such as the closely related aminoazo dye 3'-Me-DAB, are potent carcinogens. These non-specific effects involve both the granular and agranular forms of the endoplasmic reticulum as well as the glycogen content of hepatic cells. The arrays of cisternal profiles of the granular reticulum in normal hepatic cells become disorganized and the dispersed cisternae often appear fragmented and irregular. Large cytoplasmic inclusions, consisting of loosely organized tubules and vesicles, are also observed which result from a hypertrophy of the agranular reticulum. The glycogen in the cells progressively decreases in amount. The most specific effect of 2-Me-DAB is to induce an increase in the number of mitochondria per cell. Many of these organelles are characterized by the presence of a median double membrane continuous with the inner limiting membrane of the mitochondrial envelope. Evidence is presented in favor of the view that this partition is directly related to the phenomenon of mitochondrial division. It was noted also in the course of the experiment that an increasing number of cells appear which stain quite intensely with methylene blue and appear denser than normal under electron microscopy. The significance of these cells is not known.


Author(s):  
Odell T. Minick ◽  
Raja M. Bahu ◽  
Harvey W. Lyon ◽  
Richard W. Tiecke ◽  
Tohru Inouye ◽  
...  

Recent reports indicate that chronic hypervitaminosis A in humans may be associated with perisinusoidal fibrosis in the liver. A prominent feature of excess vitamin A administration is the increased number of irregularly shaped, vacuolated cells in the spaces of Disse. These vitamin A-storing cells are known as Ito cells, lipid storing cells or lipocytes. Their precise function is not established, but their appearance and location suggest that they may also play the role of fibroblasts; their massive accumulation in hypervitaminosis A may thus be causally related to perisinusoidal fibrosis. Although we have been unsuccessful in producing perisinusoidal fibrosis experimentally with vitamin A alone, we elected to use the vitamin in conjunction with the fibrosis-inducing agent carbon tetrachloride (CC14) to clarify the relationship of these cells to newly formed collagen.Rats were divided into groups receiving (1) vitamin A and CC14, (2) vitamin A alone and (3) CC14 alone, for periods up to four months.


1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Mitsumori ◽  
F. A. Talley ◽  
M. R. Elwell

Six primary interstitial cell tumors of the epididymis were identified from 46,752 male B6C3F1 mice used in chronic toxicity and carcinogenicity studies. Five of the tumors occurred at the end of 2-year studies; none were attributed to treatment. None of the mice with epididymal tumors had a primary testicular tumor. Histologically, tumors were characterized by a nodular or diffuse proliferation of tumor cells in the epididymal interstitium. Most cells were polygonal with highly vacuolated cytoplasm (vacuolated cells) or eosinophilic cytoplasm (eosinophilic cells). Smaller hyperchromatic cells with scant basophilic cytoplasm (basophilic cells) and cells with yellow-brown pigment characteristic of lipofuscin (pigmented cells) were less common. In each tumor two or more cell types were present. Extension of these tumors through the capsule, invasion of the testis, or metastasis did not occur. By electron microscopy both eosinophilic and vacuolated cell types had a large round or oval nucleus with sparse heterochromatin, abundant mitochondria with tubulovesicular cristae, and frequent desmosome structures between cell membranes. Vacuolated cells contained numerous lipid droplets. Morphological features of the epididymal tumors are similar to those of the testicular interstitial (Leydig) cell tumor in mice and rats.


1977 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 695-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Mori ◽  
A B Novikoff

Rat hepatocytes, normally not highly pinocytic cells, becomes so after partial hepatectomy when about two-thirds of the liver is removed. Droplets, up to 20 mum in diameter, develop, initially by addition to smaller pinocytic structures and later by fusion with lysosomes. The droplets contain a material with an electron microscope periodicity characteristic of fibrin; they are periodic acid Schiff-positive as is plasma. It is therefore reasonable to consider plasma glycoproteins to be major components of the droplets. The droplets are at all times membrane delimited, an observation possible only after perfusion fixation. The droplets are positive for three lysosomal hydrolases identified cytochemically: acid phosphatase, N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase, and beta-glucuronidase. From light and electron microscopy it is evident that these activities are acquired by fusion with lysosomes, mostly autophagic vacuoles and residual bodies both of which become very numerous after partial hepatectomy. Pinocytic structures are seen relatively infrequently in the hepatocytes of normal rats but a great many are present after partial hepatectomy. They are most easily observed if horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is intravenously injected before sacrifice and sections are incubated for HRP cytochemistry. The low dose of HRP employed (10 mg/100 g body weight) does not induce pinocytosis in controls, either untreated rats or rats subjected to laparotomy, including palpation of the liver. However, in partially hepatectomized rats even a much smaller dose of intravenous HRP (3.3 mg/100 g) visualizes the pinocytic structures in hepatocytes (coated vesicles, channels, cuplike bodies, and droplets). Kupffer cells pinocytose much HRP in both control and partially hepatectomized rats.


Author(s):  
Robert R. Cardell

Hypophysectomy of the rat renders this animal deficient in the hormones of the anterior pituitary gland, thus causing many primary and secondary hormonal effects on basic liver functions. Biochemical studies of these alterations in the rat liver cell are quite extensive; however, relatively few morphological observations on such cells have been recorded. Because the available biochemical information was derived mostly from disrupted and fractionated liver cells, it seemed desirable to examine the problem with the techniques of electron microscopy in order to see what changes are apparent in the intact liver cell after hypophysectomy. Accordingly, liver cells from rats which had been hypophysectomized 5-120 days before sacrifice were studied. Sham-operated rats served as controls and both hypophysectomized and control rats were fasted 15 hours before sacrifice.


Author(s):  
John H. L. Watson ◽  
John L. Swedo ◽  
M. Vrandecic

The ambient temperature and the nature of the storage fluids may well have significant effects upon the post-implantation behavior of venus autografts. A first step in the investigation of such effects is reported here. Experimental conditions have been set which approximate actual operating room procedures. Saphenous veins from dogs have been used as models in the experiments. After removal from the dogs the veins were kept for two hours under four different experimental conditions, viz at either 4°C or 23°C in either physiological saline or whole canine arterial blood. At the end of the two hours they were prepared for light and electron microscopy. Since no obvious changes or damage could be seen in the veins by light microscopy, even with the advantage of tissue specific stains, it was essential that the control of parameters for successful grafts be set by electron microscopy.


Author(s):  
Joseph M. Harb ◽  
James T. Casper ◽  
Vlcki Piaskowski

The application of tissue culture and the newer methodologies of direct cloning and colony formation of human tumor cells in soft agar hold promise as valuable modalities for a variety of diagnostic studies, which include morphological distinction between tumor types by electron microscopy (EM). We present here two cases in which cells in culture expressed distinct morphological features not apparent in the original biopsy specimen. Evaluation of the original biopsies by light and electron microscopy indicated both neoplasms to be undifferentiated sarcomas. Colonies of cells propagated in soft agar displayed features of rhabdomyoblasts in one case, and cultured cells of the second biopsy expressed features of Ewing's sarcoma.


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