title: Ursodeoxycholic acid treatment improves hepatocyte ultrastructure in rat liver fibrosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the ultrastructural changes after ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) treatment in hepatocytes from experimentally induced fibrotic livers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Liver fibrosis was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats with CCl4 for 12 wk, and the rats were divided into two groups. Group I was treated with saline and group II with UDCA (25 mg/kg per day) for 4 wk. All the rats were killed at wk 16. Mitochondria, nuclei, rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) and smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) of hepatocytes were evaluated according to a scoring system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mitochondria, nuclei, RER and SER injury scores in group II were significantly lower than those in group I (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  UDCA alleviates hepatocyte organelle injury in CCl4-induced liver fibrosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Kocatepe University, School of Medicine, Afyon, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nuket
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mas
authors.forename: Ilker
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tasci
authors.forename: Bilgin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Comert
authors.forename: Ramazan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ocal
authors.forename: Mehmet Refik
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Mas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride / Q000633:toxicity; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D015388:Organelles / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014580:Ursodeoxycholic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D014580:Ursodeoxycholic Acid; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride