[Action of a high-molecular toxin from burned skin on the hepatocyte lysosomal apparatus]

Experiments on rats were made to study the action of toxic glycoprotein isolated from burn skin on the lysosomal apparatus of hepatocytes and morphological structure of the liver. It was shown that 2-2.5 h after intraperitoneal injection to normal rats of toxic preparations of varying purity, the animals developed morphological alterations similar to those seen in the liver of the burn animals. At the same time there was an appreciable increase in the percentage of unsedimentable activity of catepsine D of the total one, thereby indicating the toxin-induced injury to the lysosomal apparatus of hepatocytes.