Cytological changes occurring in the liver of coturnix quail with an acute arsenic exposure.
Coturnix quail (Coturnix coturnix) were given acute oral doses of sodium arsenite (NaAsO2). On each of two successive days they received 1 mg sodium arsenite, followed by 3 mg on the third day. There was no observable difference between the arsenic-exposed quail liver and the controls at the light microscope level; however, swelling of granular endoplasmic reticulum (GER) in the hepatocytes of the arsenic-exposed quail was detected with electron microscopy. The swollen organelles were determined to be GER by their peripheral orientation around the mitochondria and the ribosomes attached to their cytoplasm-exposed membrane surfaces. The degree of swelling ranged from slight to severe, and was due to an osmotic imbalance possibly brought about by the indirect inhibition of the sodium pump by arsenic.
D000818:Animals; D001151:Arsenic / Q000633:toxicity*; D018053:Arsenites; D003370:Coturnix; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000187:drug effects; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D008930:Mitochondria, Liver / Q000187:drug effects; D011784:Quail; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000187:drug effects; D017670:Sodium Compounds
D018053:Arsenites; D017670:Sodium Compounds; C017947:sodium arsenite; D001151:Arsenic