Cytochemical and ultrastructural changes in aflatoxin-induced injury to rat liver cells

Young male Sprague-Dawley rats were injected intraperitoneally with a single dose of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1, 3 mg/kg). At 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours and 1, 2, and 5 weeks, the rats were killed and liver samples were taken for examination of sequential ultrastructural changes and localization of acid phosphatase (AcPase), thiamine pyrophosphatase (TPPase) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) activity. At 3-6 hrs of AFB1 treatment, the nucleoli became compacted and the network forms of nucleolonema disappeared. Parallel arrays of rough ER encountered in normal liver cells became deranged. Smooth ER increased to form groups of SER anastomosis or vesicles near the golgi area. At 12-24 hours, disruptions of nucleoli, ER systems, and polysomes became more evident. Parallel arrays of ER membranes, forming whorls in the cytoplasm as well as in the cytoplasmic patches (CP), were G6Pase-positive, although the CP were AcPase-negative. The TPPase reaction in bile canaliculi was frequently diminished, but was present in some measure in the Golgi saccules. By 1-2 weeks, most of the injured cells had recovered gradually. The CP disappeared and parallel arrays of RER were observed again in most parenchymal cells. At 5 weeks, the appearance of the nucleoli was normal, as was that of the other organelles. We concluded that the hepatic parenchymal cells had serious lesions at 12 and 24 hours of AFB1 treatment and then recovered nonsynchronously. The response, resistance, and ability to recover from the toxicity of AFB1 varied among the parenchymal cells. The three marker enzymes persisted throughout all regimens of AFB1 treatment.