HISTOCHEMICAL AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF COPPER, IRON AND METALLOTHIONEIN IN THE LIVER AND KIDNEY OF LEC RATS

Abstract

In LEC (Long-Evans, with a cinnamon-like coat color) rats, intense staining for copper and iron was limited to Kupffer cells in the liver, and no staining was seen in hepatocytes, even though they appeared to be in various stages of degeneration. In the kidney, copper and iron reaction products were localized in the epithelial cells of urinary tubules. Intense staining for metallothionein was observed in Kupffer cells and hepatocytes, and also in epithelial cells of urinary tubules. These results suggest that hepatitis in the LEC rat may be associated with abnormal deposition of both iron and copper.