CLINICAL LIVER MORPHOLOGY: THE NUCLEAR APPARATUS OF HEPATOCYTES

Abstract

Background. Changes in the architecture of the hepatocyte nucleus resulting from liver tissue exposure to pathogens have diagnostic and prognostic signifcance. In morphological study of liver tissue in chronic HCV infection there is a diffcult with the viability assessment of hepatocytes and their organelles in the presence of various mechanisms of nonprogrammed and controlled cell death. Objective. To present the data available in literature and the results of our own studies of structural architecture of hepatocyte nuclei and their components in chronic hepatitis C (CHC). Material and methods. The intravital liver bioptates of 18 patients with CHC (who had given a written informed consent) were studied. Some visualization methods were used: light and electron microscopy, including examination of semi-thin sections, various methods of fxation and staining. Results. The results of the authors’ morphological studies are presented, demonstrating some changes in structural and functional characteristics of the nuclear apparatus of hepatocytes and nuclear components with a detailed description and interpretation of the changes (polyploidy, nuclear envelope, nucleoplasm, chromosomes, perichromatin fbrils, interchromatin and perichromatin granules, nucleolus, nucleolar stress and replication others). Conclusion. In chronic HCV infection, changes occur in all components of the nuclear apparatus characterizing structural and functional features of hepatocytes. The assessment of architectural organization of the nuclear apparatus in hepatocytes provides pathomorphologists and clinicians (hepatologists) with valuable additional data indicating the applied signifcance of the changes in the parameters of the nuclear apparatus of hepatocytes in CHC, that in its turn, will contribute to more accurate monitoring of the infectious process and accelerated diagnosis of its transformation into malignant growth.