Proliferation of collagen fibrils and Ito cells in the liver after Japanese sake administration in undernourished rats as demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy.

Intralobular fibrosis of the liver was induced in undernourished rats by administering Japanese sake for 12 days. Control rats administered the equivalent calories with glucose solutions did not show any fibrosis. In the sake group, Ito cells were increased and often clustered under the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Many collagen fibrils 0.1 microns in diameter twisted around Ito cells which had numerous microvillous projections. On the contrary, fibrils were not increased and Ito cells had rather smooth surfaces in the control group. The number of Ito cells counted under the SEM at 500 magnifications was increased in the sake group (mean +/- standard deviation; 70 +/- 23/mm2) as compared to the control group (44 +/- 9; P less than 0.01). The fact that Ito cells had proliferated and were tangled with collagen fibrils in the sake group was demonstrated three-dimensionally by SEM.