Light and Electron Microscopic Studies of Diet-Induced Hepatic Changes in Mice

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Abstract
Adult mice were fed a choline-deficient ethionine enriched (CDE) diet for 24, 48 or 72 h. They were then fasted for 24 or 48 h prior to sacrifice. All tissues were studied by light and electron microscopy. Animals fed the CDE diet for 24 h exhibited cells with vacuolated cytoplasm, and the accumulation of lipid in these cells was clearly abnormal. Animals fed the CDE diet for 24 h and subsequently a regular diet for 48 h displayed normal hepatocytes, suggesting that the alterations at 24 h were reversible. Following 48 or 72 h of feeding the CDE diet, abundant lipid-laden cells were observed in the hepatic lobules, and at the electron microscope level these cells were undergoing frank degeneration. Evidence indicated that changes after 48 or 72 h were irreversible.