MORPHOMETRY OF HEPATOCYTE MITOCHONDRIAL APPARATUS IN NORMAL AND CIRRHOTIC RAT LIVER
N. N. Bezborodkina,1 S. V. Okovity,2 M. V. Kudryavtseva,1 O. V. Kirik,3
I. V. Zarubina,2 B. N. Kudryavtsev 1
1 Institute Cytology RAS, St. Petersburg, 2 Military-Medical Academy and
3 State Research Institute of Experimental Medicine RAMS, St. Petersburg;
1 e-mail: cellpath@mail.cytspb.rssi.ru
Morphometric electron microscopy study of the hepatocyte mitochondrial apparatus and morphofunctional analysis of the degree of pathological alterations
were carried out on the liver of rats with CCl4-cirrhosis (experimental group). Chronic poisoning of rats with CCl4 for 6 months led to a
4.2-fold increase in proportion of connective tissue and to a decrease in the number of hepatocytes in the liver by 21.8 %. Dry mass and ploidy of hepatocytes
in the cirrhotis liver rose as compared with norm by 20.6 and 9.3 %, respectively. Activities of alanine and aspartate aminotransferases in blood of rats of
experimental group exceeded normal ones 2.0 and 1.4 times, respectively. Concentration of total bilirubin in blood of the cirrhotic animals increased 1.7 times,
while concentration of total protein decreased by 22 %. Concentration of diene conjugates in the liver of rats of experimental group increased 2.1 times as compared
with normal one, while the level of malonic dialdehyde - by 34 %. Activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase in the cirrhotic liver were lower than in the normal
liver were lower than in the normal liver by 16 and 23 %, respectively. Morphometry of the hepatocyte mitochondrial apparatus has shown that in spite of an increase
in the voluminous density of mitochondria in hepatocytes of the cirrhotic liver (by 28 %), concentration of internal mitochondrial membranes in the cells was reduced
almost 1.5 times, while the total length of internal membrane in a single mitochondrion was reduced about twice as compared with norm. Thus, despite
compensation of the partial loss of hepatocytes because of their polyploidi-zation and hypertrophy, the specific synthetic activity of cells in the case of cirrhosis
is decreased due to deterioration of the antioxidant system and electron transport chain of the mitochondrial apparatus.
Key words: liver cirrhosis, hepatocytes, mitochondria, tetrachloromethan
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