Abstract
Intraperitoneal injections of colloidal radiogold were given to Lewis and Wistar rats 24 hours before hepatectomy or sham operation, respectively, followed by a 2d injection of the radio-colloid 24 hours before sacrifice at stated intervals after the operation. Radioassay was carried out on hepatectomy specimens and organs removed after sacrifice, permitting calculation of percent of injected radiocolloid retained per g of liver and spleen. Increased phagocytic activity was observed in livers and spleens of hepatectomized rats as compared with sham-operated controls or with specimens removed at hepatectomy. The increase was most marked in livers of male Wistar rats 3 days after hepatectomy. While Lewis female rats showed consistently higher uptake of radiocolloid in liver and spleen than did comparable male rats, the increase after hepatectomy was of lesser degree in female rats. Fifteen or 16 days after operation hepatic uptake of Au198 was similar in hepatectomized and sham-operated rats, whereas in Wistar, but not in Lewis, rats splenic uptake of Au198 was still increased after 16 days. The relative splenic size was increased after hepatectomy. These findings were interpreted as indicating increased phagocytic ability of hepatic and splenic macrophages following partial hepatectomy, probably associated with proliferative changes of phagocytes. These observations were discussed as to their possible relationship to hepatic blood flow and other morphologic and functional changes following partial hepatectomy.