Summary
The alterations of the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in the rat liver following bile duct ligation were investigated by electron microscopical techniques. Serum ALP activity reached the maximum at 24 hours after ligation and two isozymes of ALP, high molecular and low molecular one, appeared in the serum. Bile canaliculi became dilated at 48 hours after ligation and the microvilli were destructed and diminished in number. ALP activity was observed almost only on the bile canalicular membrane of the liver cells in the control. On the other hand, in bile duct-ligated rat, the ALP activity on the canalicular membrane was markedly increased initially, then it appeared on the lateral membrane, and finally on the sinusoidal membrane also. It was not stainable on the canalicular membranes which lacked microvilli. The proposed pathway through which hepatic ALP enters the blood stream in bile duct-ligated rats is as follows: ALP, being synthesized in the microsomes of hepatocytes, is initially transferred to the bile canalicular membrane and diffused to lateral membrane through tight junction, reaches to sinusoidal membrane then released into the blood stream.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gutman AB: Serum alkaline phosphatase activity in diseases of the skeletal and hepatobiliary systems. Am J Med Vol 27: 875–901, 1959
Polin SG, Spellberg M, Teitelman L, et al: The origin of elevation of serum alkaline phosphatase in hepatic disease. Gastroenterology Vol 42: 431–438, 1962
Posen S: Alkaline phosphatase. Ann Intern Med Vol 67: 183–203, 1967
Kaplan MM, Righetti A: Induction of rat liver alkaline phosphatase: the mechanism of the serum elevation in bile duct obstruction. J Clin Invest Vol 49: 508–516, 1970
Mayahara H, Hirano H, Saito, et al: The new lead citrate method for the ultracytochemical demonstration of activity of non-specific alkaline phosphatase. Histochemie 11: 88–96, 1967
Toda G, Oka H, Oda T, et al: Subfractionation of rat liver plasma membrane-bound enzymes on the liver cell surface. BBA 413: 52–64, 1975
Suzuki H, Yamanaka M, Oda T: Studies on serum alkaline phosphatase isoenzyme. Ann NY Acad Sci 166: 811, 1969
Hägerstrand I, Nordén J: Enzyme studies in rats with extrahepatic biliary obstruction. Acta path microbiol scand Section A 80: 539–547, 1972
Kryszewski AJ, Neale G, Whitfield JB, et al: Enzyme changes in experimental biliary obstructions. CCA 47: 175–182, 1973
Price CP, Hill G, Sammons G: The nature of the alkaline phosphatase of the bile. J Clin Path 25: 149–154, 1972
Toda G, Ikeda U, Kako M, et al: Mechanisms of elevation of serum alkaline phosphatase activity in biliary obstruction: an experimental study. CCA 107: 85–96, 1980
Ronchi G, Desmet VJ: Histochemical study of socalled “Marker Enzymes of Cholestasis“ during extra hepatic bile duct obstruction in the rat. Beitr Path Bd 149: 213–226, 1973
De Vos R, Desmet VJ: Morphological changes of the junctional complex of the hepatocytes in rat liver after bile duct ligation. Br J exp Path 59: 220–227, 1978
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kako, M., Toda, G., Torii, M. et al. Electron microscopic studies on hepatic alkaline phosphatase in experimentally induced biliary obstruction of the rat. Gastroenterol Jpn 15, 600–605 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02773764
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02773764