[Age changes of functional nuclear swelling and classes of nuclei in human hepatocytes]

The aim of the study was to describe aging changes in the functional nuclear edema and the classification of human hepatocyte nuclei, by determining three parameters--the size of the nucleus, the relative DNA quantity and the number of chromocenters. For this purpose, karyometry and DNA cytophotometry were performed on 10 human liver preparations. The data obtained was subjected to correlation, cluster and discriminance analysis. The results indicated a reduction in the capacity of liver cells for functional nuclear edema as aging progressed. Whereas at a young age there is only a loose correlation between nuclear size and DNA content, it becomes much stricter later on, partly caused by polyploidization. Cluster analysis, followed by discriminance analysis, is well suited for dividing the nuclei of human hepatocytes into two or three statistical populations provided the nuclear area, DNA quantity and number of chromocenters are all used as characteristics simultaneously. When allowance is made for functional edema, the biological interpretation of clusters from young liver preparations permits meaningful conclusions, but it appears problematic for old preparations. Here it might be more practical to analyze the mixed distributions resulting from a determination of the DNA quantity or nuclear size alone.