[Morphologic and histochemical indices of hepatic function following bilateral subdiaphragmatic vagotomy]

A complex morpho-functional investigation of the rat liver was performed after bilateral subdiaphragmal vagotomy by means of light, electron microscopy methods and a quantitative histochemical method. Some ultrastructural disorders in hepatocytes and in stellate reticuloendotheliocytes were revealed, with their maximal manifestation 7 days after vagotomy. At later stages (45 and 90 days), compensatory-restorative processes develop resulting in considerable (but not complete) normalization of the organ's structure. Quantitative histochemical investigations have demonstrated that even at the highest degree of the resulted disorders the liver preserves its ability to synthesize and accumulate glycogen, but the intensity of the process is considerably lowered. Functional changes are reversible in their character and correlate to the degree of structural disorders.