Effect of Kupffer cell blockade at different times after partial hepatectomy on hepatocyte regeneration

The system of mononuclear phagocytes of the liver was blocked in male Wistar rats weighing 140–160 g by iron carbonyl (brand R-100 F) with a particle size of 1–1.5 . The blockade was carried out 2 h before partial hepatectomy and also 3 and 18 h after the operation. Injection of the iron compound before the operation and in the early prereplicative period of regeneration led to substantial delay of the peak of the index of labeled nuclei and mitotic index of the hepatocytes accompanied by a general reduction in proliferative power of the hepatocytes. Blockade of the system of mononuclear phagocytes in the period of intensive DNA synthesis by hepatocytes of the regenerating liver was less effective. The facts are evidence of the important role of the Kupffer cells in regulation of reparative regeneration of the liver.Laboratory of Pathophysiology, Department of General Pathology, Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Siberian Branch, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Novosibirk. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR V. P. Kaznacheev.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 84, No. 11, pp. 616–618, November, 1977.     

Dnases of cell nuclei: Mn2+-dependent endonuclease

Institute of Biological and Medical Chemistry, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 110, No. 10, pp 370–372, October, 1990.     

Electrophoretic investigation of nuclear membrane ribonucleases of rat liver and hepatoma-27 cells

Preparations of the nuclear membranes were obtained from purified nuclei of rat liver and hepatoma-27 cells, and from them enzyme-containing extracts of acid-soluble proteins were then prepared. The protein extracts were subjected to disk electrophoresis in 15% polyacrylamide gel. Ribonucleases (RNases) which are constituents of the acid-soluble proteins of the nuclear membranes of normal liver were found to be present as several different components which differed in their electrophoretic mobility and in several physicochemical properties from crystalline bovine RNase and the RNase of nuclear chromatin.Institute of Problems in Oncology, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. N. K. Kol'tsov Institute of Developmental Biology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR R. E. Kavetskii.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 84, No. 12, pp. 670–672, December, 1977.     

Morphometry of terminal hepatic veins

Summary Alcohol induced perivenular fibrosis of terminal hepatic veins (THV) is claimed to be a precursor lesion leading to fibrosis development in man and baboon. The nature and significance of the THV lesions found in four baboons chronically fed with alcohol were studied in liver biopsies obtained during a three year period. The surface of THV wall and the number of mesenchymal cells were assessed with a semi-automatic image analyser. Histologically, THV were characterized as (a) phlebitic, in the presence of an inflammatory cell infiltrate involving the venous wall; (b) oedematous, when the connective tissue of the THV wall was disrupted or dissociated and (c) fibrotic, when perivenular scarring appeared as an increased rim. These lesions were present simultaneously and their intensity and distribution were independent of the duration of alcohol intoxication. Morphometric data obtained from these THV confirmed the thickening of the THV wall (WS/IS in: oedematous 1.05±0.36; phlebitic 1.65±1.04; fibrotic 1.47±0.36); and revealed an increased number of mesenchymal cells in fibrotic (439 m²/cell;p<0.01) and in phlebitic THV (510 m²/cell;p<0.05). A constant relationship was found between phlebitis and the presence of inflammatory infiltrate within the hepatic acini. Fibrotic THV was a less frequent finding and the lesion disappeared in the sequential biopsies of one of the baboons. In conclusion, THV lesions were heterogeneous and the collagen deposition in the THV wall was potentially reversible during the three year alcohol intoxication period, regardless the inflammatory reaction and, thus, did not indicate early irreversible hapatic fibrosis.Dr. Porto was supported by a fellowship from MEC-CAPES, Brazil. A grant for morphometric equipment was obtained from the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale and from the Societé d'Hépatologie Expérimentale, 77 rue Pasteur, Lyon, France     

A case of pseudolymphoma of the liver

A case of pseudolymphoma (reactive lymphoid hyperplasia) of the liver in a 66 year old female is presented. A tumor-like lesion was incidentally discovered in the liver during clinical follow up of diabetes mellitus. The hepatic lesion was resected because malignant lymphoma was suspected after a needle biopsy. Grossly, the lesion was well-deflned and measured 1.0 × 1.5 × 1.0 cm. Microscoplcally, the lesion consisted of hyperplastic lymphoid follicles with distinctive germinal centers and interfollicular areas consisting of mature lymphocytes and plasma cells. An immunohistologlcal study revealed that the lymphoid cells of the lesion were polyclonal in immunophenotypes. These histological and immunohistochemical findings strongly suggested a pseudolymphoma and not hepatic inflammatory pseudotumor. Thls case was diagnosed as pseudolymphoma of liver. Only a few cases of hepatic pseudolymphoma have so far been reported In the English literature.