Electron microscopic study of intranuclear spheres of Bouteille type-III in astrocytes with special reference to liver carcinoma

Astrocytic intranuclear spheres of Bouteille type-III were studied with the electron microscope in the neocortex of 29 patients dying from various causes. The numbers of laminate whorls in these spheres in patients with carcinoma involving the liver were found statistically to be significantly more numerous than the whorls in the spheres of patients who did not have carcinoma of the liver. This second group included patients who were suffering from carcinoma of other organs or from cirrhosis of the liver. The frequency of cases with the spheres increased with age. The numbers of spheres found in people with liver carcinoma, carcinoma of other organs and cirrhosis were the same as the numbers found in people dying from other diseases. The possibility that the increase in numbers of whorls found in people with liver carcinoma was related to a raised metabolic activity of the astrocytes resulting from reduced catabolism of hormones or metabolites by the liver is briefly discussed.