Histological Changes Observed in Glass Eel Liver during Starvation

Abstract

When glass eels are subjected in a resting state to starvation from a half to 2 months empty spaces inevitably appear in their liver cells and at the same time glycogen accumulates in abundance in them. While they are fed daily fat globules appear in considerable amount but the glycogen and empty spaces in the liver cells showed no marked change in amount. Accordingly, these empty spaces are thought to represent the sites of glycogen storage.
The formation of empty spaces, that is, deposition of glycogen after a certain period of starvation is thougt to be a natural phenomenon due to a specific metabolism during starvation. The deposition of glycogen is probably related with glyconeogenesis and/or convertion of glycogen in the liver into blood glucose.
Empty spaces which are formed by a moderate starvation disappear after long periods of starvation.