[Hepatocyte changes in experimental iron overloading. An ultrastructural and microanalytic study].

In this paper the ultrastructural changes in hepatocytes which were experimentally induced by oral and parenteral iron overloading in Sprague-Dawley rats fed on a steatogenous U.A.R. 2-13 diet are analysed. The changes in the mitochondria consisted of flocculation, vesiculation and crystolysis. The R.E.G. showed marked phenomena of dilatation degranulation and fragmentation. The lysosomes became more numerous and increased their content of ferric macromolecules. Degenerative nuclear phenomena were also seen. A microanalytic study of the cellular organelles and nucleus was done relating the cellular lesion and the intracellular distribution of the iron.