ULTRA-CYTOCHEMICAL CHANGES OF GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATASE ACTIVITY IN DEGENERATIVE HEPATOCYTES IN CHRONIC HEPATITIS - APPLICATION OF GLUCOSE-6-PHOSPHATASE ULTRACYTOCHEMISTRY TO HUMAN-LIVER BIOPSY SPECIMENS

Using glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) as a marker enzyme, ultracytochemistry was performed on human degenerative hepatocytes in liver biopsy specimens from 7 cases of chronic aggressive hepatitis and 3 cases of chronic persistent hepatitis. Some modifications of prefixation, incubation time and postwashing time were made to apply the ultracytochemical method for this enzyme originally designed for animals to biopsied human liver. Normal G6Pase activity was found in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER), the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) and the nuclear envelope (NE) of nearly normal hepatocytes in chronic persistent hepatitis. In degenerative hepatocytes of chronic aggressive hepatitis, lead phosphate deposition was reduced in the dilated cisternae and observed only on the inner surface of the cisternal membrane. SER was vesiculated and contained no G6Pase activity. Occasionally, in markedly dense and shrunken hepatocytes which were detached from neighbouring cells, G6Pase activity had mostly disappeared in SER and RER but it was well preserved in NE. © 1979, JAPAN SOCIETY OF HISTOCHEMISTRY AND CYTOCHEMISTRY. All rights reserved.