Division of protoplasmic astrocytes in acute experimental hepatic encephalopathy. An electron microscopic study.

The ultrastructural features of dividing protoplasmic astrocytes, induced by the production of hepatic encephalopathy, are described. True cellular hyperplasia, as manifested by cytokinesis at the site of paired nuclei, was demonstrated. The cytoplasm contained structural elements suggesting that cell division occurs by a highly organized process. Some of the observations were similar to those found in mitotic division in other types of cells, raising the possibility that cell division in protoplasmic astrocytosis might occur by mitosis rather than by amitosis, as widely held.