Morphological alterations in epithelial cells of the mouse gallbladder 30 hours after treatment with lithogenic diet

Mice were fed a gallstone inducing diet. Thirty hours after treatment, distinct morphological alterations in the gallbladder epithelium occurred. The most striking effect was the short-term appearance of large cisternae, which emerge as a result of coalescence of dilated cavities of the rough endoplasmic reticulum. At the same time, an increased storage of small granular material was observed. These alterations did not appear after treatment lasting for less or more than thirty hours. The development started with an enlargement of the endoplasmic cavities, whereas the Golgi apparatus did not seem to undergo transformations; therefore, a transport stop of the secretory products of the epithelial cells must be located at the connection between both organelles. The formation of the endoplasmic cisternae seemed to be caused by a reversible block of the intracellular transport pathway of the secretion products.