Reduction in phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in rat liver parenchymal cells following experimentally induced cholestasis.

The effect of experimentally induced cholestasis on the amount of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) was studied immunohistochemically in rat liver parenchyma. In control liver, the enzyme was mainly localized periportally and, although the enzyme content was much reduced, this distribution pattern was maintained up to 2 weeks after ligation of the common bile duct. At 4 and 8 weeks after ligation the enzyme content in parenchymal cells remained low, but became distributed homogeneously throughout the liver parenchyma. This suggests that after bile duct ligation, gluconeogenesis from lactate is impaired. This may well be the cause of the adaptive changes to enhance the glycogenolytic capacity of parenchymal cells to maintain as far as possible a constant blood glucose level.