The fate of electron opaque tracers (horseradish peroxidase and lanthanum chloride) during valproic acid-induced choleresis.

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and lanthanum chloride (LaCl3) are useful tools for, respectively, the study of vesicular transport through the hepatocyte and the study of the permeability of junctional complexes. These tracers have been used to detect the changes associated with the choleresis independent of bile acids induced by valproic acid (VPA) in rats. The animals were given a single dose of VPA (600 mg/kg, ip). HRP (100 mg/kg) or 5 mM LaCl3 were given intraportally after 1 h, when bile flow had increased twofold. The excretion of HRP in bile was measured colorimetrically up to 2 h after HRP. Ultrastructural morphometry was conducted on liver of intact rats taken from 1 to 40 min after HRP. The volume density (VD) of HRP-containing vesicles and of HRP-containing multivesicular bodies (MVB) was counted. In VPA-treated rats, HRP appeared in bile with a peak showing at 5 min against 20 min in controls, but the total amount of HRP excreted was less than in controls. The intrahepatocytic vesicular transport of HRP was also modified, showing a peak at 3 min in VPA-treated rats compared to 10 min in controls, together with a decreased VD of pericanalicular vesicles. This was accompanied by an increase of HRP-containing MVB, already evident at 5 min.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)