A scanning and transmission electron microscopic study of experimental extrahepatic cholestasis in the rat.

The rat liver after extrahepatic biliary obstruction was studied by SEM and TEM in correlation with basic histochemical techniques. Cholestasis was verified by serological methods. The biochemical data (increase in serum bilirubin values, a gradual lowering of the albumin fraction), in agreement with the ultrastructural results of a sparse RER, suggested a gradual decrease of the protein synthetic activity of the hepatocyte. SEM and TEM revealed numerous fat-storing cells, closely associated with patches of connective fibrils in the subendothelial spaces. Further ultrastructural observations demonstrated: a) a proliferation of the intrahepatic biliary tree (ductular proliferation, including newly formed ducts with sacculation and diverticuli); b) an increased number of canaliculo-ductular junctions and, c) an increase in the length of the bile canalicular network due to its tortuous course, pocketing and side branching. The occurrence of an intact cytoplasmic barrier separating the bile canalicular lumen from the Disse's space together with the results obtained by retrograde infusion of ferritin into the biliary tree suggested that the regurgitation pathway by ductular reabsorption and by transhepatocytic transport is the best documented and most acceptable, at least in the rat.