A Stereological and Biochemical Study of the Human Liver in Uncomplicated Cholelithiasis

Koch, Maurizio; Freddara, U; Lorenzini, I.; Giampieri, Margherita; Jézéquel, A.M.; Orlandi, Fabio

doi:10.1159/000198199

Cited by 18 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The present study shows that a certain amount of steatosis can always be detected in the normal human liver, and confirms pre vious findings (12,13) about the lack of cor relation between the volume density of lipo cytes and the volume density of parenchymal steatosis.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…However, in a comparative study of gallstone patients before and after therapy, it has been shown that the volume density of lipocytes is signif icantly higher than normal in untreated pa tients (12) and remains unchanged up to 13 months of therapy (13). The large coeffi cient of variation of the Ito cell index noted in gallstone patients (12) is confirmed in the present study conducted on normal subjects. Thus quantitative data appear essential in the assessment of numerical or volumetrical variations of lipocytes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

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The Lipocytes in Normal Human Liver

1981

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A quantitative analysis of lipocytes (fat-storing cells, Ito cells) has been conducted on needle liver biopsies of 8 subjects without hepatic impairment. The mean volume density of lipocytes was 1.88 ± 0.25% of parenchymal volume, and the number of lipocytes per 1,000 hepatocytes (Ito cell index) was 63.45 ± 19.18. A study of the zonal distribution showed that the values were significantly higher in the centrolobular than in the periportal areas. No correlation was evident between the volume density or the number of lipocytes and the volume density of parenchymal steatosis. The high coefficients of variation resulting from the present study are evidence that quantitative data are necessary to evaluate volumetrical or numerical variations of lipocytes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

The Lipocytes in Normal Human Liver

1981

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“…6,7,15 The technique is simple and can be performed either by feeding images into the computer and use an overlay lattice as in this study or supplying one eye-piece of the microscope with a graticule with a point lattice and do the counting directly in the microscope. Different structures in the liver are identified immediately and can be included or excluded from counting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In several studies, objective computer-assisted methods 4,5 and stereological point counting 6,7 have been used to quantify the degree of steatosis. These studies have shown that usually not more than 10-20% of the sectional area or volume density is occupied by fat vacuoles.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Semiquantitative evaluation overestimates the degree of steatosis in liver biopsies: a comparison to stereological point counting

et al. 2005

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The degree of steatosis in liver biopsies is usually assessed by a morphological semiquantitative approach in which the histopathologist uses a four-graded scale: 0-3 or none, slight, moderate and severe. Scores 1-3 are considered to correspond to fat deposition in o33, 33-66 and 466% of the hepatocytes. There is a considerable inter-and intra-individual variation in such scoring methods and a more standardized and quantitative approach is preferable. In the present study, we compare the semiquantitative technique with the stereological point counting method in the assessment of hepatic steatosis. A total of 75 archived liver needle biopsies were used. They were selected according to the original routine diagnosis of slight, moderate or severe steatosis. In all, 10 randomly selected images from each biopsy were digitized into a computer, a point grid lattice was superimposed and the number of hits on fat globules was counted. A pathologist scored the specimens in a four-graded scale as described above. The mean liver biopsy area (volume) with fat in hepatocytes was 2.2% for grade 1, 9.2% for grade 2 and 23.1% for grade 3. The kappa value for the semiquantitative estimates was 0.71 for the unweigthed kappa and 0.87 for weighted kappa. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.99 for images counted twice and 0.95 when two sets of images were captured from the same biopsy. These ICCs indicate excellent agreement and above that of the semiquantitative estimates. In conclusion, the area/volume of fat content of the hepatocytes is greatly overemphasized in semiquantitative estimation. Furthermore, the point counting technique has a better reproducibility than visual evaluation and should be preferred in estimates of liver steatosis in scientific studies and in clinical contexts when the amount of steatosis is important for treatment and prognosis, such as liver transplantation. Modern Pathology (2005) 18, 912-916.

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“…5 blocks were randomly selected and the sections photographed on 35-mm film. The pictures were analyzed with the point-count ing technique according to the criteria previously re ported [ 15]. For the present study, the following deter minations were made: surface density of the rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum, of the Golgi mem branes, of bile canalicular membranes including mi crovilli, and volume density of the Golgi apparatus and of bile canaliculi.…”

Section: Analytical Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on the Lipid Composition of Rat Bile during Choleresis Induced by Diethyl Maleate

Bonazzi¹,

Amabili²,

Freddara³

et al. 1983

Digestion

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Diethyl maleate (DEM) is known to produce a rapid depletion of hepatic glutathione (GSH) and to induce an immediate short-term choleresis in experimental animals. The aim of our investigation was to ascertain in rats the effect of DEM on biliary lipid composition during the increment in bile flow. Biochemical and morphological studies of liver tissue were conducted in parallel. In bile fistula rats, a doubling of bile flow occurred immediately after intraperitoneal injection of DEM (0.7 ml/kg body weight) returning to the basal level at 45 min. Choleresis diluted the total bile acid concentration, without modifying the secretion. The phospholipid concentration was not affected by DEM, resulting in increased output (p < 0.02 vs. controls). Both cholesterol concentration and output were significantly decreased during DEM-induced choleresis. These changes were promptly reversible together with the return of bile flow to control values. Biochemical determinations failed to show a DEM-induced modification of enzymatic activities of the microsomal drug biotransformation pathway. Instead, morphological studies revealed alterations of the Golgi apparatus in hepatocytes with marked distension of the cisternae in coincidence with choleresis. The results demonstrate that the bile acid-independent choleresis induced by DEM is accompanied by an alteration in biliary lipid secretion possibly related to an interaction of the drug with the cellular or subcellular membranes of hepatocytes.

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A Stereological and Biochemical Study of the Human Liver in Uncomplicated Cholelithiasis

Cited by 18 publications

References 17 publications

The Lipocytes in Normal Human Liver

The Lipocytes in Normal Human Liver

Semiquantitative evaluation overestimates the degree of steatosis in liver biopsies: a comparison to stereological point counting

Study on the Lipid Composition of Rat Bile during Choleresis Induced by Diethyl Maleate

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