Observations on the anatomy of the rat liver

Abstract

Since the rat plays an important role in experimental liver studies, knowledge concerning the organization of its liver would be invaluable. Especially necessary is a better understanding of the ramification of the intrahepatic portal vein a d of its inter'digitation with the hepatic veins. It would also be of great advantage to homologize the lobes of the liver of the rat with the corresponding parts of the human liver. This can only be effected on the basis of the identification of rami venae portae.To homologize the lobes of the liver of various mammals, including man, among each other is a difficult task if only the external shape of the liver is considered. In 1872, Flower devised an ingenious diagram for the classification of mammalian liver lobes which has served as the basis of nomenclature for textbooks of animal anatomy. In this diagram, the umbilical vein and its topographical successor, the ligamentum teres, divide the liver into right and left "segments," not lobes. According to Flower, the liver consists of three major lobes : left lateral, central (divided into left and right central) and right lateral lobes. Study of the portal vein branches reveals that his designated left central lobe is the territory of the ramus caudalis lobi sinistri venae portae. In man and the rat, this

Expression Pattern of Glutamine Synthetase Marks Transition from Collecting into Conducting Hepatic Veins

“…The expression pattern of GS proved to be a convenient biological parameter to identify areas in the wall of the larger efferent veins where such drainage occurs. These data therefore modify earlier findings in rodents (Gershbein and Elias 1954;Elias and Popper 1955;Lee et al 1960) to bring them more in line with the description in baboon, sheep, and rabbits (Elias 1949;Elias and Sherrick 1969;Wendelin 1972;Porto et al 1989). In fact, we did observe in different mammalian species that portions of the larger hepatic veins were bordered by hepatocytes that express periportal rather than the expected pericentral enzyme markers and that the proportion of these areas increased with the diameter of the vessels (Wagenaar et al 1994).…”

The portal lobule in rat liver fibrosis: A re-evaluation of the liver unit

“…This pattern of lobular angioarchitecture in the pig liver is similar to that of human liver as shown by the excellent work of Matsumoto and Kawakami. 15 It should be noted that, as reported in some studies, 28,29 sinusoids terminate into all branches of the hepatic veins in the rat, from the smallest to the largest branches (Fig. 1C).…”

Effect of ethephon on the liver in albino rats: A histomorphometric study

“…These findings are in accordance with the findings of Gershbein and Elias. [25] In the experimental rats, the one-cell-thick, orderly arrangement of the hepatocytic cords of the liver was disrupted and the hepatocytes appeared to be singly placed probably due to the co-existing immense dilatation of the bile canaliculi in between the hepatocytes [ Figure 2]. The hepatocytes varied in size.…”