The influence of portocaval shunting on inner ear structures

In rats with a portocaval shunt the cells of the inner ear were examined in an ultrastructural study. In 15 rats a porto-caval shunt (PCS) was constructed. Control rats underwent identical procedures but no anastomosis was produced (SOP). The control rats were pair-feeded. PCS rats developed an increased urinary zinc excretion associated with weight loss, alopecia, lethargy and atrophy of the testes. The serum zinc concentration in PCS rats was significantly reduced. In the inner ear we found ultrastructurally an increasing number of lysosomes and a severe damage of the myelin sheath of the granular ganglion cells. The myelin sheath was split and filled with great myelin figures. In the outer hair cells resulted in an increasing number of lysosomes. In the stria vascularis and in Reissner's membrane a vacuolization of the tissue appeared. The results of this study show that rats with a porto-caval anastomosis serve as a pathophysiological model of zinc impoverishment like porto-caval shunting in patients with liver cirrhosis.