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Continuous increase of alcohol dehydrogenase activity along the liver plate in normal and cirrhotic human livers
Author(s) -
Sokal Etienne Marc,
Collette Elizabeth,
Buts Jean Paul
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.488
H-Index - 361
eISSN - 1527-3350
pISSN - 0270-9139
DOI - 10.1002/hep.1840170207
Subject(s) - cirrhosis , alcohol dehydrogenase , human liver , lobules of liver , medicine , biology , sinusoid , pathology , endocrinology , chemistry , alcohol , enzyme , biochemistry
To determine the zonal distribution of alcohol dehydrogenase in normal and cirrhotic human livers, we measured activities of this enzyme by quantitative cytochemical analysis along the liver cell plate in liver specimens from 10 normal organ donors and from 7 children with extrahepatic biliary atresia cirrhosis. In normal human liver samples, a continuous increase in alcohol dehydrogenase activity was observed along the sinusoid from the periportal to the perivenular hepatocytes (mean extinction units from 16.2 ± 10.0 to 58.0 ± 14.8). A similar observation was made in cirrhotic nodules, with activity increasing continuously from nodule periphery to center (7.6 ± 4.1 to 44.9 ± 13.3). This study demonstrates a heterogeneous pattern of alcohol dehydrogenase distribution along the sinusoid in normal human liver specimens. In addition, demonstration of this heterogeneity in human cirrhosis suggests that the cirrhotic liver is able to maintain a parenchymal functional organization, with persistence of metabolic zonation. (H EPATOLOGY 1993;17:202–205.)