An ultrastructural and biochemical study of hexachlorophane-induced fatty liver in sheep.

The administration of single or multiple oral doses of hexachlorophane to yearling sheep resulted in a periportal fatty liver. The accumulation of fat is accompanied by ultrastructural changes in the hepatocyte organelles, particularly the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus, and by decreased serum lipid and triglyceride levels. It is suggested that an impairment in the triglyceride secretory mechanism of the liver cell may be the patho-physiological basis for fatty liver. However, the changes in the liver were not accompanied by an evidence of significant impairment of liver cell function.