Bile canalicular alkaline phosphatase in necropsy specimens of the liver and its relation to disease

The histochemical patterns of the alkaline phosphatase reaction in liver specimens obtained at 185 consecutive autopsies were studied for any correlation with clinical data and post mortem findings. Alkaline phosphatase activity of bile canaliculi was found in 71 per cent of the subjects with malignant tumours not involving the liver, and in 77 per cent of the subjects with malignant tumours involving the liver. The histochemical pattern did not differ with the type of tumour. Most subjects with rheumatoid arthritis as well as most of those with centrolobular hepatic necrosis due to heart incompensation also showed alkaline phosphatase activity in the bile canaliculi.