Hepatic sinusoidal endothelium in sheep: an ultrastructural reinvestigation

Following perfusion fixation of livers from fetal, neonatal, and adult sheep, the ultrastructure of the fenestrated sinusoidal endothelium was examined. In contrast to an earlier report which utilized immersion fixation, we found the fenestrae to be unoccluded by diaphragms or basal lamina, thus offering only a discontinuous barrier between the blood and the space of Disse and hepatocytes. This observation was confirmed by perfusing the liver with marker particles. The fenestrae appear, therefore, to have a sieving function, regulating the metabolism of particulate matter such as lipoproteins in sheep in a similar manner to that which has been shown to occur in rats.