Abstract
It is known that administration of galactosamine in large quantities to the rat induces liver injury which shows morphological and functional features similar to those of acute human viral hepatitis. However, the changes in the ultrastructure of the parenchymal cell and in the histochemical localization of enzymes in this liver injury have not been analyzed systematically.
In this study, transient injury to the rat liver was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of galactosamine. After the administration of the drug, most of the liver cells showed synchronous morphological alteration accompanied by changes in the histochemical localization of several enzymes in the liver cell. Namely, after the administration of galactosamine, the histochemical reaction of sorbitol dehydrogenase at the light microscopic level was frequently restricted to one side of the cytoplasm and the peripheral cytoplasm near the cell border.
At the electron microscopic level, the reaction deposits of sorbitol dehydrogenase were recognized in the hyaloplasm and its localization shifted with the movement of cell organelles. Moreover, the localization of G-6-Pase changed with alteration of the shape of the endoplasmic reticulum and its distribution, while the localizations of 5′-nucleotidase and Mg++-ATPase changed with the morphological alteration of the plasma membrane.
