Features of Ultrastructural Changes in Hepatocytes and Sinusoids of the Liver in Rats with Concomitant Chest and Hip Trauma

In the experiment on rats inducing concomitant chest and hip trauma the features of changes in hepatocytes and hemomicrocirculatory bed of the liver were investigated using electron microscopy. The degenerative dystrophic changes in hepatocytes occurring secondary to dysfunctional adjustment of elements of hemomicrocirculatory bed were detected at early stages (within the first day) after injury. An expressed expansion of the sinusoidal lumen and filling it with blood corpuscles such as erythrocytes, lymphocytes, and neutrophils were seen in the hemomicrocirculatory bed. In the hepatocytes the nuclear membrane became wavy due to numerous protrusions and invaginations in contrast to the smooth nuclear membrane of the hepatocytes of intact animals. There was an increased number of free lysosomes in the cytoplasm. The lumen of bile capillaries located between two adjacent hepatocytes looked expanded. These phenomena were accompanied by gradual destruction of mitochondria with co-existent notable expansion of ducts and tanks of both granular and smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Such changes progressed to the 3rd day of posttraumatic period and were stabilized up to the 7th day of the experimental observation. Since the 7th day of the experiment the regenerative processes occurred continuing till 28th day with the complete restoration of the state of hemomicrocirculatory channels and the structural organization of hepatocytes. The presence of white blood cells in hepatic hemomicrocirculatory bed, especially during the early posttraumatic period may be the sign of the development of reactive changes in response to trauma with co-existent inflammatory and corresponding immune responses.?