Comparative Aspects on the Fine Structure of the Teleost Liver
1982 Volume 58 Issue 4-6 Pages 501-519
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1982 Volume 58 Issue 4-6 Pages 501-519
The fine structure of the liver in 19 species of teleosts were studied in aspects of comparative anatomy.
1. Kupffer stellate cells were very difficult to find out in the perisinusoidal region of the liver throughout all the teleosts examined.
2. In the Disse space of these animals, Ito cells containing fat droplets and fibroblast-like cells are present. After the administration of large doses of vitamin A all the fibroblast-like cells transform to the fat-storing cells in the goldfish and carp.
3. In the liver of Cyprinida (Carassius auratus, Carassius carassius, and Cyprinus carpio, and except for Misgurnus fossilus), Cyprinodontida (Oryzias latipes), Percida (Epinephelus akaara, Hepalogenys mucronatus, Chrysophrys major, Halichoeres poecilopterus), Cottida (Sebastes schlegeri, Inimicus japonicus, Sebastes inermis, Platycephalus indicus), and Pleunonectida (Paralichthys olivaceus and Limanda herzensteini), typical desmosomes are frequently seen between two endothelial cells, between the endothelial cell and the Ito cell, between two Ito cells, between the Ito cell and the hepatocyte, and between two hepatocytes.
In addition, in the gold fish liver, the Ito cells are also present just beneath the peritoneal epithelium. There are numerous desmosomes between the peritoneal epithelial cell and the Ito cell, and between the Ito cell and the hepatocyte.
4. Some teleosts having desmosomal structures in the perisinusoidal regions mentioned above are usually poor in development of collagen fibrils in the Disse space, while the other teleosts without any desmosomal structures, such as Anguillida (Anguilla japonica, Astroconger myriaster) and Clupeida (Salmo gairdneri irricleus, Onchorhynchus masou), are very rich in collagen fibrils in the Disse space. In Cyprinida, only Misgurnus fossilis shows the same structure as them.
5. Each hepatocyte of the gold fish, carp, crucian and lorch possesses an intracellular canaliculus. The hepatocyte of these animals is extremely large in size and characterized by an occurrence of a large glycogen-area, while the cell organelles are concentrated in the perinuclear region. The intracellular bile canaliculus is considered to be necessary to transport the bile from the cell organelle through the large glycogen area.
