title: Liver ultrastructure in pigs fed various oils.
abstract: In order to determine the effects of various dietary oils on the porcine liver, four groups of 10- to 11-week-old pigs received feed supplemented with either 10 per cent rapeseed oil (RO) of Tower (0.4 per cent erucic acid) or Target (30.2 per cent erucic acid) varieties, Atlantic herring oil, or soybean oil for 10 weeks. The ultrastructural appearance of the livers from pigs of a fifth group receiving no oil was compared with that from the livers of pigs fed dietary supplements of the four oils. Alterations induced by Tower RO (low erucic acid content) consisted of an increase in the extent and number of the following features in the hepatocytes: an increased number of tortuous cisternae of rough surfaced endoplasmic reticulum, signet ring-shaped mitochondria and cytoplasmic lacunae. Bile canalicular lumina were occluded by swollen microvilli and, or, globules of a lipid-like material. Alterations caused by Target RO (high erucic acid content) in hepatocytes were similar to those induced by Tower RO. Lesions seen in the pigs fed herring oil included an excess of membrane limited lipid droplets and an accumulation of electron dense bodies in the Golgi zone of liver parenchymal cells. Many bile canaliculi were dilated. A soybean oil supplement resulted in an accumulation of clusters of minute lipid droplets in hepatocytes and a stacking of mitochondrial cristae. It is concluded that the alterations represent functional modifications of hepatocytic metabolism in response to the oil supplements.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001937:Brassica; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004883:Erucic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009821:Oils / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009940:Organoids / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013552:Swine / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D004883:Erucic Acids; D009821:Oils