Animal model. Light and electron microscopy of hepatocytes of cats with Chediak-Higashi syndrome.

Cats with a condition resembling human Chediak-Higashi syndrome (CHS) are the most recently described of five species of animals with similar syndromes. In this study, hepatocytes of cats with CHS were examined by light microscopy, histochemistry, and transmission electron microscopy. Enlarged cytoplasmic granules, morphologically consistent with lysosomes, were present in many of the CHS cat hepatocytes. The enlarged lysosomes were generally larger and more numerous in centrilobular hepatocytes and were generally larger in older cats. The lesions were similar to those reported in other species with CHS suggesting that CHS cats are a valid animal model of human CHS.