Hepatic ceroid-lipofuscinosis in enzootic cardiomyopathy of sika deer (Cervus nippon temminck).

Hepatic lesions in 25 sika deer (Cervus nippon Temminck) aged 1-15 days, affected by selenium-deficiency cardiomyopathy, were examined histopathologically. Characteristic pathological findings, induced by stagnation of the plasma proteins of the cytoplasm, consisted of vacuolar degeneration of hepatocytes, formation of hyalin droplets, and ceroid-lipofuscinosis. Electron microscopically, these changes were closely associated with degeneration of the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria. Peroxisomes, which were observed around the vacuoles, were regarded as a reactive result of membrane disturbance caused by a decrease in glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px)