Rhythmic circadian activity of the rat hepatic lobule reflected at cellular level

Study of the liver by quantitative microscopic methods (karyogram, nucleologram), cytophotometry and karyometry demonstrated the circadian rhythmicity of the different nuclear variables in terms of the functional activity of the cells. In the hepatic lobule of the adult rat, synchronized to a fixed feeding hour, a cellular rhythmic self-renewal was recorded, especially due to ploidization, with cytotopographical particularities, consisting in the cyclic reversible transformation of diploid into polyploid cells (with a single hypertrophic nucleus or binucleate) according to the increased metabolic requirements in the course of digestion.