The ultrastructure of intrahepatic bile ducts in primary biliary cirrhosis

Abstract

Needle biopsies of the liver from 4 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis were examined by electron microscopy with special attention to changes of intrahepatic bile ducts. A septal duct with a diameter of approximately 160 μ from case 2 revealed three types of alterations in the epithelia. A few cells showed oncocytic changes characterized by a large amount of mitochondria densely packed in their relatively abundant cytoplasm. No such cells were observed in the bile ducts from other three cases. The changes observed suggest that both degeneration and regeneration were constantly going on in the bile ducts due to the persistence of etiologic factor(s) in this condition, resulting in the diminution of bile ducts. The large number of mitochondria and striking changes of the cristae in the oncocytes provide the possibility that these cells could trigger the formation of antimitochondrial antibody which is present in virtually all of the patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

Keywords

ultrastructure / intrahepatic bile ducts / oncocytes / primary biliary cirrhosis

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