Effects of copper sulfate poisoning on the fine structure of rat liver

유산동(硫酸銅) 중독(中毒)이 랫트 간장(肝臟)의 미세구조(微細構造)에 미치는 영향(影響)

This study was designed in order to investigate the effect of copper sulfate to the ultrastructural changes of the hepatocytes in Sprague Dawley rats. The animals were administered with copper sulfate (10mg/kg B.W.), which was dissolved in normal saline. The solution was injected into abdominal cavity every day. The animals were sacrificed at the 6th, 12th, and 24th day from the beginning of administration. The specimens obtained from the liver were observed with electron microscope and significant changes were as follows. 1. A prominent dilatation and disruption of the cisternae of rough endoplasmic reticulum were recognized. Also, the detachment of membrane bound ribosomes was shown. 2. The proliferation of smooth endoplasmic reticulum and the depletion of glycogen particles were noted. 3. The increase of primary lysosomes and autophagic vacuoles was obserbed. 4. The dilatation of mitochondrial cristae was obserbed. And it was irregulary scattered in the stroma of mitochondria. 5. The atrophy of microvilli in the bile canaliculi and space of Disse was prominent. 6. Membrane of hepatocytes was damaged and significant hydrophic degeneration was obserbed in the perisinusoidal regions. 7. The damage of Fat-storing cells was more significant than that of hepatocytes.