A scanning electron microscopic study of the liver of the monkey Macaca speciosa. I. Vascular system of the hepatic lobule.

The vasculature of the hepatic lobule of the monkey was investigated by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The vessel walls of the portal and terminal hepatic (central) veins consist of a closed endothelium, a continuous basement membrane and a connective tissue layer. Sinusoids, however, show endothelia with typical fenestrations, and connective tissue fibres are only sparsely distributed in the space of Disse. Kupffer cells are present in the sinusoids, and occasionally in the terminal hepatic and sublobular veins, but are never present in the portal veins. They are characterized by a ruffled surface and special processes--filopodia and lamellipodia--which anchor them to the endothelial cells and also connect them with adjacent Kupffer cells. Flat branches of perisinusoidal cells, which encircle the endothelia, occur in the space of Disse, and are presumed to have a pericyte-like function.