Effect of Nutritional Conditions on Age Changes of the Liver of the Japanese

Abstract

Age changes of the livers of native Japanese autopsied during 1965-1976 (group-B), have been compared with those of native Japanese autopsied during 1950-1960 (group-A), and Hawaii Japanese.
In case of the subjects under 39 years of age, number of hepatic cells in the group-B was similar to that in the Hawaii-Japanese and larger than that in the group-A, but in the older individuals, up to the 70 years of age of the group-B, the number was smaller than in group-A, although weight of the liver was larger in the former than in the latter.
Difference in the changing process of the hepatic cell number among the three groups was discussed with reference to the age change of size of hepatic cells and nuclei and of number of binucleate cells.
The differences among the three groups support our opinion that the environmental, especially nutritional conditions during their earlier life play an important role in the aging process.