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ORCEIN‐POSITIVE GRANULES IN LIVER CELLS
Author(s) -
VYBERG MOGENS,
THOMSEN PER
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
acta pathologica microbiologica scandinavica section a pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0365-4184
DOI - 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1979.tb00072.x
Subject(s) - orcein , cirrhosis , liver biopsy , pathology , hepatitis , primary biliary cirrhosis , fibrosis , medicine , chronic liver disease , biopsy , gastroenterology , chemistry , staining
Orcein‐positive granules (OPG), assumed to represent a copper storage protein occurring in liver cell lysosomes secondary to copper accumulation, have been demonstrated in 139 out of 1002 specimens of a consecutive liver biopsy material (13.9%). OPG are revealed in a variety of lesions which as a common feature exhibit fibrosis often connected with long‐standing cholestatic liver disease. The highest frequency is found in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) where 16 out of 18 biopsies show OPG, usually in large amounts, and in cirrhosis with alcoholic hepatitis, where 38 out of 51 are orcein‐positive. 37 biopsies, showing features of chronic hepatitis, are all orcein‐negative. The fairly constant presence of large amounts of OPG in PBC, in contrast to the low frequency in chronic hepatitis, seems to be an important diagnostic clue.