Ultrastructural heterogeneity of glycogen in human liver

The ultrastructure of the lobular patterns of hepatic glycogen was studied in four human liver surgical biopsies, obtained 14 h after the last meal. In centrilobular hepatocytes, glycogen particles were regularly dispersed with elements of SER between the particles. Periportal hepatocytes showed dense glycogen deposits with SER restricted to the periphery of the glycogen masses. The ultrastructural heterogeneity of the lobular distribution of glycogen in our human cases is similar to that found in control-fed rats and mice. The metabolic signification of these findings is as yet unclear.