Abstract

Ultrastructural study of the effects of amiodarone on the liver tissue was performed. Rats were fed with amiodarone containing diet and were sacrificerd at 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 8th weeks of experiment. Charateristic lisosomal inclusion bodies were appeared form first week, which were more prominent and increased in size at the 5th and 8th week of experiment. These inclusion bodies were found in hepatocytes, Kupffer cells, bile duct epithelial cells and fibroblasts but most prominent in hepatocytes. The lysosomal inclusion bodies could be divided into four types; those characterized by (1) dense bodies with packed crystaloid contents, (2) multilamellated bodies, (3) irregular shaped bodies with varying electron density and 4. dense bodies containing stacks of fine membranous structures. All types were found in all experimental groups. But the type 1 and 2 were predominent at early stage, while type 3 and 4 were more prominent at later stage According to these findings, the formation of the lysosmal inclusion body was a characteristic change in derangement of phospholipid metabolism. And amiodarone could induce disturbance of phospholipid metabolism in all kinds of cells in liver tissue.

• Keywords: Phospholipidosis;Liver;Amiodarone