[A histochemical study of diethylnitrosamine-induced altered liver cells in rats]

The histochemical changes of gamma-glutamyltransferase (gamma-GT), adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase), glucose-6-phosphatase (G-6-Pase) and ornithine carbamyltransferase (OCT) were studied in diethylnitrosamine (DEN) -induced and enzyme-altered liver cell lesions (Solt-Farber model) in rats. The number of altered liver cell foci tended to decrease after ceasation of 2-acetylaminofluorene (2-AAF); nevertheless, the number and size of the nodules increased rapidly within 20 weeks. The histochemical changes of most of the altered liver cell foci were focused on one or two kinds of enzyme activity (mostly gamma-GT and ATPase); while most of the nodules presented 3 or 4 kinds of histochemical changes, including OCT and G-6-Pase. It is concluded that some of those altered nodules of multi-enzyme changes might develop continuously to become tumors.