Summary
To assess the effect of ethanol on the liver of the offspring of alcohol-fed rats, the hepatocytes of newborn rats whose mothers were fed: a) a liquid diet containing alcohol, b) the same diet isocalorically balanced, or c) a chow diet, were analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative electron microscopy as well as cytophotometric and biochemical methods.
Hepatocytes of chow-fed and pair-fed controls showed differences in the amounts of glycogen and lipids as well as in several stereologically measured variables including mitochondria, Golgi apparatus and smooth endoplasmic reticulum. These differences are probably due to the composition of the diet.
Rats prenatally exposed to alcohol showed increases in the hepatocyte and mitochondria volumes and in the number of peroxisomes Moreover, the Golgi apparatus of these cells appeared disorganized and composed exclusively of small size vesicles, suggesting an impairment of their function.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Abe K, Matsushima S, Mita M (1983) Estimation of the mean size of spheres from the profiles in ultrathin sections: A stereologic study. J Electron Microsc 32:57–60
Abel EL (1982) Consumption of alcohol during pregnancy: A review of effects on growth and development of offspring. Human Biol 54:421–453
Bannigan J (1984) Ethanol teratogenicity in mice: An electron microscopic study. Teratology (In press)
Baraona E, Lieber CS (1982) Effects of alcohol on hepatic transport of proteins. Ann Rev Med 33:281–292
Barka J, Anderson J (1967) Histochemistry. Harper and Row Publ, New York
Beskid M, Majdedecki T, Sklandzinski J (1975) The effect of ethanol applied during gestation on the mitochondria of the hepatic cells of pups. Folia Histochem cytochem 13:175–180
Chernoff GF (1977) The fetal syndrome in mice: An animal model. Teratology 15:223–230
Chernoff GF (1980) The fetal alcohol syndrome in mice: Maternal variables. Teratology 22:71–75
Colangelo W, Jones DG (1982) The fetal alcohol syndrome: A review and assessment of the syndrome and its neurological sequelae. Prog Neurobiol 19:271–314
David H (1979) Quantitative and qualitative changes in the mitochondria in hepatocytes during postnatal development of male rats. Exp Pathol 17:359–373
David H (1980a) Morphometric analysis of peroxisomes in the liver cells of male rats during postnatal development. Exp Pathol 18:321–328
David H (1980b) Quantitative changes of the endoplasmic reticulum and GERL in the hepatocytes during postnatal development of male rats. Pathol Res Practeriol 166:381–399
David H, Uerling I (1983) Quantitative ultrastructure of the rat liver by immersion and perfusion fixations. Exp Pathol 23:131–141
DeHoff RT, Rhines FN (1961) Determination of the number of particles per unit volume from measurements made on random plane sections: The general cylinder and the ellipsoid. Trans Am Inst Min Met Engrs 221:975–992
Dobbins WO, Rollins EL, Brooks SG, Fallon HJ (1972) A quantitative morphological analysis of ethanol upon rat liver. Gastroenterol 62:1020–1033
Ehrenreich JH, Bergeron JJM, Siekevitz P, Palade GE (1973) Golgi apparatus prepared from rat liver homogenates. I. Isolation procedure and morphological characterization. J Cell Biol 59:45–72
Guerri C, Grisolia S (1982) Effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure of rats to alcohol: Changes in (Na+,-K+) ATPase. Pharmac Biochem Behav 17:927–932
Guerri C, Esquifino A, Sanchis R, Grisolía S (1984) Growth, enzymes and hormonal changes in offspring of alcohol-fed rats. In: Mechanism of alcohol damage in utero. Pitman, London (Ciba Foundation Symposium 105), p 85
Gordon ER (1984) Alcohol-induced tolerance in mitochondrial membranes. Sciene 223:193–194
Harman JW, Feigelson M (1952) Studies on mitochondria. V. The relationship of structure and oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria of heart muscle. Expt Cell Res 3:509–525
Hassid WZ, Abraham S (1957) Chemical procedures for analysis of polysaccharides. In: Colowick SP, Kaplan NO (eds) Methods in enzymology, vol III, Academic Press, New York, p 34
Israel Y, Orrego H (1981) Liver oxygen demand and hepatocyte enlargement: Their possible role in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease. In: Lautt WW (ed) Hepatic circulation in health and disease. Raven Press, New York, p 351
Israel Y, Orrego H, Colman JC, Britton RS (1982) Alcohol-induced hepatomegaly: Pathogenesis and role in the production of portal hypertension. Fed Proc 41:2472–2477
Khanna JM, Israel Y (1980) Ethanol metabolism. In: Javitt NB (ed) Liver and biliary tract physiology I. University Park Press, Baltimore, p 273
Kronik JN (1976) Teratogenic effects of ethyl alcohol administred to pregnant mice. Am J Obstet Gynecol 124:676
Lazarow PB (1982) Peroxisomes. In: Arias I. Popper H, Schachter D, Shafritz DA (eds) The liver: Biology and pathobiology. Raven Press, New York, p 27
Lefkowitch JH, Rushton AR, Feng-Chen KC (1983) Hepatic fibrosis in fetal alcohol syndrome. Pathologic similarities to adult alcoholic liver disease. Gastroenterology 85:951
Lieber CS (1980) Alcohol, protein metabolism, and liver injury. Gastroenterology 79:373–390
Lieber CS, DeCarli LM (1976) Animal models of ethanol dependence and liver injury in rats and baboons. Fed Proc 35:1232–1236
Lieber CS, DeCarli LM (1982) The feeding of alcohol in liquid diets: Two decades of applications and 1982 update. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 6:523–531
Marinari UM, Cottalasso D, Gambella GR, Averame MM, Pronzato MA, Nanni G (1978) Effects of acute-ethanol intoxication on3H palmitic acid transport through hepatocyte Golgi apparatus. FEBS Lett 86:53–56
Markovics J, Glass L, Maul GC (1974) Pore patterns on nuclear membranes. Expt Cell Res 85:443–451
Mathieu O, Claassen H, Weibel ER (1978) Differential effects of glutaraldehyde and buffer osmolarity on cell dimensions: A study on lung tissue. J Ultrastr Res 63:20–34
Matsuda Y, Baraona H, Salasporo M, Lieber CS (1979) Effects of ethanol on liver microtubules and Golgi apparatus. Possible role in altered hepatic secretion of plasma proteins. Lab Invest 41:455–463
Novikoff PM (1982) Intracellular organelles and lipoprotein metabolism in normal and fatty livers. In: Arias I, Popper H, Schachter D, Schafritz DA (eds) The liver: Biology and pathobiology. Raven Press, New York, p 103
O'Connor E, Renau-Piqueras J, Grisolía S (1984) Effects of urease-induced hyperammonemia in mouse liver. An ultrastructural, stereologic and biochemical study. Virchows Arch [Cell Pathol] 46:187–197
Oda K, Misumi Y, Ikehara Y (1983) Disparate effects of monensin and colchicine on intracellular processing of secretory proteins in cultured rat hepatocytes. Eur J Biochem 135:209–216
Oudea MC, Collette M, Oudea P (1973a) Morphometric study of ultrastructural changes induced in rat liver by chronic alcohol intake. Diges Dis 18:398–402
Oudea MD, Dedien Ph, Oudea P (1973b) Morphometric study of the ultrastructure of human alcoholic fatty liver. Biomedicine 19:455–459
Petersen P (1977) Abnormal mitochondria in hepatocytes in human fatty liver. Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand Sect A 85:413–420
Porta EA, Hartroft WS, de la Iglesia FA (1965) Hepatic changes associated with chronic alcoholism in rats. Lab Invest 14:1437–1455
Randall CL, Taylor WJ (1979) Prenatal ethanol exposure in mice: Teratogenic effects. Teratology 19:305–312
Renau-Piqueras J, Miguel A, Knecht E (1980) Effects of preparatory techniques on the fine structure of peripheral blood lymphocytes. II. Effects of glutaraldehyde osmolarity. Mikroscopy 36:65–80
Renau-Piqueras J, Cervera J (1982) Frequency and distribution pattern of nuclear pores in normal and PHA-stimulated human T-lymphocytes. Afr J Clin Exp Immunol 3:221–231
Renau-Piqueras J, Cervera J (1983) Chromatin pattern of isolated human small thymocytes. A morphometric and stereologic study. Virchows Arch [Cell Pathol] 42:315–325
Renau-Piqueras J, Pérez-Serrano MD, Martinez-Ramón A (1983) Stereological study of murine myeloma and hybridoma cells “in vitro” and “in vivo”. J Submicrosc Cytol 15:607–618
Rømert P, Matthiessen ME (1983) Alcohol-induced injury of mitochondria in hepatocytes of mini-pig fetuses. Virchows Arch [Pathol Anat] 399:299–305
Rottenberg H, Waring A, Rubin E (1984) Alcohol-induced tolerance in mitochondrial membranes. Science 223:193
Rubin E, Lieber CS (1967) Early fine structural changes in the human liver induced by alcohol. Gastroenterol 52:1–13
Rubin E, Rottenberg H (1982) Ethanol-induced injury and adaptation in biological membranes. Fed Proc 41:2465–2471
Stein O, Stein Y (1967) Lipid synthesis, intracellular transport, storage, and secretion. I. Electron microscopic radiautographic study of liver after injection of tritiated palmitate or glycerol in fasted and ethanol-treated rats. J Cell Biol 33:319–339
Streissguth AP, Landesman-Dwyer S, Martin JC, Smith DW (1980) Teratogenic effects of alcohol in humans and laboratory animals. Science 209:353–361
Tartakoff AM (1980) The Golgi complex: crossroads for vesicular traffic. Internat Rev Exp Pathol 22:227–251
Tartakoff AM (1983) Perturbation of vesicular traffic with the carboxylic ionophore monensin. Cell 32:1026–1028
Volentine GD, Tuma DJ, Sorrell MF (1984) Acute effects of ethanol on hepatic glycoprotein secretion in the rat in vivo. Gastroenterology 86:225–229
Weibel ER (1979) Model cases from biological morphometry (Morphometry of the subcellular organization of liver cells). In: Weibel ER (ed) Stereological methods, vol 1. Practical methods for biological morphometry, Chap 8, Academic Press, New York, p 257
Weibel ER, Staübli W, Gnägi HR, Hess FA (1969) Correlated morphometric and biochemical studies on the liver cell. I. Morphometric model, stereologic methods, and normal morphometric data for rat liver. J Cell Biol 42:68–91
Weibel ER, Bolender R (1973) Stereological techniques for electron microscopic morphometry. In: Hayat MA (ed) Principles and techniques of electron microscopy, vol 3, Van Nostrand Reinhold Co, New York, p 237
White DL, Mazurkiewicz JE, Barrnett RJ (1979) A chemical mechanism for tissue staining by osmium tetroxyde-ferrocyanide mixtures. J Histochem Cytochem 27:1084–1091
Williams M (1977) Stereological techniques. In: Glauert AM (ed) Practical methods in electron microscopy, vol 6, Part II, Chapt 2, North Holland/American Elsevier, Amsterdam, p 1
Zern MA, Shafritz DA, Shields D (1982) Hepatic protein synthesis and its regulation. In: Arias I, Popper H, Schachter D, Schafritz DA (eds) The liver: Biology and pathobiology, Raven Press, New York, p 103
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Renau-Piqueras, J., Gómez-Perretta, C., Guerri, C. et al. Qualitative and quantitative ultrastructural alterations in hepatocytes of rats prenatally exposed to ethanol with special reference to mitochondria, golgi apparatus and peroxisomes. Vichows Archiv A Pathol Anat 405, 237–251 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00704375
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00704375