MORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE RAT LIVER AND A BIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SERUM FOLLOWING EXPERIMENTAL LIGATURE OF THE THORACIC DUCT

H Cremer; N Muller; H Bechtelsheimer

Articles

MORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE RAT LIVER AND A BIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SERUM FOLLOWING EXPERIMENTAL LIGATURE OF THE THORACIC DUCT

Authors: H Cremer (University of Arizona) , N Muller ( ) , H Bechtelsheimer ( )

Abstract

After ligature of the thoracic duct of rats the spaces of Disse and Mall as well as the lymphatic vessels in the portal tracts and the lymphatic vessels along the Vv. hepaticae dilate. There are necroses of hepatocytes at the periphery of the liver lobules and microscopical findings which are indicative of lympho-biliary fistulae. After 12-15 days the morphological changes regress more or less.

During the 1st day the serum enzyme activities show an obvious increase in LDH, a fairly small rise in GOT and GPT and a decrease in alkaline phosphatase. Thereafter, only insignificant fluctuations, deviating very little from normal GOT, GPI and LDH values, can be observed. The alkaline phosphatase remains decreased during the whole duration of the experiments. The triglycerides, too, show a decrease in comparison with the normal values, whereas the total lipids and the total cholesterol exhibit only small fluctuations, not deviating very much from normal values.

In the case of animals which were observed during a longer period, the wet weight of the liver was lower than that of healthy control animals.

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How to Cite: Cremer, H. , Muller, N. & Bechtelsheimer, H. (1974) “MORPHOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE RAT LIVER AND A BIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SERUM FOLLOWING EXPERIMENTAL LIGATURE OF THE THORACIC DUCT”, Lymphology. 7(2).