Morphometric Analysis of the Hepatocytes from Fish Exposed to Arsenic

Author(s):  
Elsie M. B. Sorensen

The detoxification capacity of the liver is well documented for a variety of substances including ethanol, organic pesticides, drugs, and metals. The piscean liver, although less enzymatically active than the mammalian counterpart (1), contains endoplasmic reticulum with an impressive repertoire of oxidizing, reducing, and conjugating abilities (2). Histopathologic changes are kncwn to occur in fish hepatocytes following in vivo exposure to arsenic (3); however, ultrastructural changes have not been reported. This study involved the morphometric analysis of intracellular changes in fish parynchymal hepatocytes and correlation with arsenic concentration in the liver.Green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus, R.) were exposed to 0, 30, or 60 ppm arsenic (as sodium arsenate) at 20°C for 1, 2, or 3 week intervals before removal of livers for quantification of the arsenic burden (using neutron activation analysis) and morphometric analysis of ultrastructural alterations. Livers were cut into 1 mm cubes for fixation, dehydration, and embedding.

Author(s):  
E. M. B. Sorensen ◽  
R. R. Mitchell ◽  
L. L. Graham

Endemic freshwater teleosts were collected from a portion of the Navosota River drainage system which had been inadvertently contaminated with arsenic wastes from a firm manufacturing arsenical pesticides and herbicides. At the time of collection these fish were exposed to a concentration of 13.6 ppm arsenic in the water; levels ranged from 1.0 to 20.0 ppm during the four-month period prior. Scale annuli counts and prior water analyses indicated that these fish had been exposed for a lifetime. Neutron activation data showed that Lepomis cyanellus (green sunfish) had accumulated from 6.1 to 64.2 ppm arsenic in the liver, which is the major detoxification organ in arsenic poisoning. Examination of livers for ultrastructural changes revealed the presence of electron dense bodies and large numbers of autophagic vacuoles (AV) and necrotic bodies (NB) (1), as previously observed in this same species following laboratory exposures to sodium arsenate (2). In addition, abnormal lysosomes (AL), necrotic areas (NA), proliferated rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), and fibrous bodies (FB) were observed. In order to assess whether the extent of these cellular changes was related to the concentration of arsenic in the liver, stereological measurements of the volume and surface densities of changes were compared with levels of arsenic in the livers of fish from both Municipal Lake and an area known to contain no detectable level of arsenic.


1982 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Burnside ◽  
B Smith ◽  
M Nagata ◽  
K Porrello

Teleost retinal cones contract in the light and elongate in the dark. In the green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus, the necklike myoid region of the cone contracts from as much as 120 micrometers (midnight dark-adapted) to 6 micrometers in fully light-adapted state. When dark-adapted fish are exposed to light (1.4 lux), cone myoids contract with a linear rate of 1.5 +/- 0.1 micrometers/min. We report here that detergent-lysed motile models of teleost retinal cones exhibit calcium- and ATP-dependent reactivated contraction, with morphology and rate comparable to that observed in vivo. For reactivation studies isolated dark-adapted retinas were lysed with nonionic detergent Brij-58 (0.1-1.0%). In reactivation medium containing 10(-5) M free calcium and 4 mM ATP, the lysed cones contracted with normal morphology at in vivo rates (1.4 +/- 1 micrometer/min). Little contraction was observed if ATP or detergent was deleted from the medium or if free calcium levels were less than 10(-8) M. Ultrastructural examination of cone models lysed with 1% Brij-58 revealed that, in spite of extensive extraction of the cytoplasmic matrix, cytoskeletal components (thin filaments, intermediate filaments, microtubules) were still present. Thus we have produced extensively extracted motile models of teleost retinal cones which undergo calcium- and ATP-dependent reactivated contraction with normal morphology at physiological rate.


Author(s):  
S. Phyllis Steamer ◽  
Rosemarie L. Devine

The importance of radiation damage to the skin and its vasculature was recognized by the early radiologists. In more recent studies, vascular effects were shown to involve the endothelium as well as the surrounding connective tissue. Microvascular changes in the mouse pinna were studied in vivo and recorded photographically over a period of 12-18 months. Radiation treatment at 110 days of age was total body exposure to either 240 rad fission neutrons or 855 rad 60Co gamma rays. After in vivo observations in control and irradiated mice, animals were sacrificed for examination of changes in vascular fine structure. Vessels were selected from regions of specific interest that had been identified on photomicrographs. Prominent ultrastructural changes can be attributed to aging as well as to radiation treatment. Of principal concern were determinations of ultrastructural changes associated with venous dilatations, segmental arterial stenosis and tortuosities of both veins and arteries, effects that had been identified on the basis of light microscopic observations. Tortuosities and irregularly dilated vein segments were related to both aging and radiation changes but arterial stenosis was observed only in irradiated animals.


Author(s):  
A.S. Dabholkar ◽  
W.W. Carmichael ◽  
K. Berg ◽  
J. Wyman

Intracellular changes in the hepatocytes of isolated rat livers perfused with cyclic heptapeptide toxins are described. The toxins used are 1) -Ala-Leu- β-methyl isoAsp-Arg-ADDA-isoGlu-mdha (M.W. 944) from Microcystis aeruginosa- Lake Akersvatn, Norway; 2) -Ala-Arg-isoAsp-Arg-ADDA-isoGlu-mdha (M.W. 1023) from Oscillatoria agardhii var. - Lake Kolbatnvatn, Norway; 3) -Ala-Arg-isoAsp-Arg-ADDA-isoGlu-dha (M.W. 1009) from Oscillatoria agardhii var. isothrix - Lake Froylandsvatn, Norway. Approximate LD intraperitoneal mouse for the toxins is 50, 500 and 1000 μg/kg respectively.Livers were removed from male Sprague Dawley rats and perfused for 15 min with a blood-free perfusate (50 ml) followed by 60 min with perfusate containing i) 25, 50, or 200 μg of M. aeruginosa toxin ii) 50, 250, 500 or 1000 μg of O. agardhii var. toxin and iii) 1000, 2000, 2500 or 5000 μg of O. agardhii var. isothrix toxin. Control livers were perfused for 75 min with the blood-free perfusate.


1982 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanette Blomfield ◽  
Peter J. Settree ◽  
Helen M. Allars ◽  
Anne R. Rush

1989 ◽  
Vol 256 (1) ◽  
pp. G254-G263 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Chew ◽  
M. Ljungstrom ◽  
A. Smolka ◽  
M. R. Brown

A new procedure for isolation and primary culture of gastric parietal cells is described. Parietal cells from rabbit gastric mucosa are enriched to greater than 95% purity by combining a Nycodenz gradient separation with centrifugal elutriation. Cells are plated on the basement membrane matrix, Matrigel, and maintained in culture for at least 1 wk. Parietal cells cultured in this manner remain differentiated, cross-react with monoclonal H+-K+-ATPase antibodies, and respond to histamine, gastrin, and cholinergic stimulation with increased acid production as measured by accumulation of the weak base, [14C]aminopyrine. When stimulated, cultured cells undergo ultrastructural changes in which intracellular canaliculi expand and numerous microvilli are observed. These ultrastructural changes are similar to those previously found to occur in vivo and in acutely isolated parietal cells. Morphological transformations in living cells can also be observed with differential interference contrast optics in the light microscope. After histamine stimulation, intracellular canaliculi gradually expand to form large vacuolar spaces. When the H2 receptor antagonist, cimetidine, is added to histamine-stimulated cells, these vacuoles gradually disappear. The ability to maintain hormonally responsive parietal cells in primary culture should make it possible to study direct, long-term effects of a variety of agonists and antagonists on parietal cell secretory-related activity. These cultured cells should also prove to be useful for the study of calcium transients, ion fluxes, and intracellular pH as related to acid secretion in single cells, particularly since morphological transformations can be used to monitor "physiological" responses at the same time within the same cell.


2004 ◽  
Vol 286 (2) ◽  
pp. F356-F362 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Kanellis ◽  
Roger Bick ◽  
Gabriela Garcia ◽  
Luan Truong ◽  
Chun Chui Tsao ◽  
...  

In macrophages, changes in intracellular calcium have been associated with activation of cellular processes that regulate cell adhesion and motility and are important for the response of macrophages to antigenic stimuli. The mammalian counterpart of the fish calcium-regulating hormone stanniocalcin-1 (STC1) is expressed in multiple organs including the thymus and spleen, and hence, we hypothesized that it may have a role in modulating the immune/inflammatory response. Using murine macrophage-like (RAW264.7) and human monoblast-like (U937) cells to study chemotaxis in vitro, we found that STC1 attenuated chemokinesis and diminished the chemotactic response to monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) and stromal cell-derived factor-1α. Consistent with these findings, STC1 blunted the rise in intracellular calcium following MCP-1 stimulation in RAW264.7 cells. In vivo studies suggested differential expression of STC1 in obstructed kidney and localization to macrophages. MCP-1 and STC1 transcripts were both upregulated following ureteric obstruction, suggesting a functional association between the two genes. Our data suggest a role for mammalian STC1 in modulating the immune/inflammatory response.


2007 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 569-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farah Ali ◽  
Leslie Chin ◽  
Peter D. Paré ◽  
Chun Y. Seow

The phenomenon of length adaptation in airway smooth muscle (ASM) is well documented; however, the underlying mechanism is less clear. Evidence to date suggests that the adaptation involves reassembly of contractile filaments, leading to reconfiguration of the actin filament lattice and polymerization or depolymerization of the myosin filaments within the lattice. The time courses for these events are unknown. To gain insights into the adaptation process, we examined ASM mechanical properties and ultrastructural changes during adaptation. Step changes in length were applied to isolated bundles of ASM cells; changes in force, shortening velocity, and myosin filament mass were then quantified. A greater decrease in force was found following an acute decrease in length, compared with that of an acute increase in length. A decrease in myosin filament mass was also found with an acute decrease in length. The shortening velocity measured immediately after the length change was the same as that measured after the muscle had fully adapted to the new length. These observations can be explained by a model in which partial adaptation of the muscle leads to an intermediate state in which reconfiguration of the myofilament lattice occurred rapidly, followed by a relatively slow process of polymerization of myosin filaments within the lattice. The partially adapted intermediate state is perhaps more physiologically relevant than the fully adapted state seen under static conditions, and it simulates a more realistic behavior for ASM in vivo.


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