title: An electron microscopic examination of age-related changes in the rat liver. The influence of diet.
abstract: The influence of age and diet on the ultrastructure of hepatocytes is reported. The following dietary manipulations were investigated: Group 1, fed ad libitum a diet containing 21% protein; Group 2, fed a similar diet but restricted to 60% of the intake of Group 1 from 6 weeks of age onwards; Group 3, restricted from 6 weeks to 6 months of age and thereafter fed ad libitum; Group 4, restriction started at 6 months of age; Group 5, fed ad libitum a diet containing 12.6% protein. In all groups the size of hepatocytes was found not to increase during adult life. The size of hepatocytes in Groups 2 and 4 was the same as or larger than that of the other groups; thus food restriction resulted in a decreased number of hepatocytes. Changes in the structure of some organelles and the accumulation of lipofuscin granules occurred with advancing age and the extent of these age-related changes was less in Groups 2 and 4 than in the other groups. These morphologic findings in conjunction with our previously reported metabolic findings provide a new view of the action of food restriction on the aging process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Shimokawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hayashida
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Masoro
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikeda
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D008099:Liver / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344