ULTRA-MORPHOLOGICAL ALTERATION IN PREGNANT RAT LIVER INDUCED BY PYRALENE 3000

摘要

Pyralene 3000 is a low chlorinated technical polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixture, which was in use in Slovenia and due to improper handling caused a serious pollution in the karst region of Bela Krajina (1). Therefore, we studied the effect of Pyralene 3000 on the liver ultrastructure, a common organ targeted by these organochlorines. The liver is considered the major organ involved in the transformation of myriads of structurally diverse compounds by virtue of the presence of several isozymes of cytochromes P-450 within hepatocytes. Commercial PCB mixtures can induce both major classes of hepatic cytochrome P-450, typically induced by phenobarbital (PB) and 3-methylcholantrene (MC) (2, 3). We previously showed that our protocol of low chlorinated PCBs (Pyralene 3000) administration increased the absolute volume of the hepatocyte cytoplasm and caused a depletion of glycogen (4). The aim of this study was, therefore, to examine the ultrastructural changes in pregnant rat liver of treated animals related to zonal localization of the hepatocytes and to determine the toxic PCB congeners retained in their adipose tissue, which may be associated with the toxic action of Pyralene 3000.