Stereological analyses of hepatocyte changes parallel arsenic accumulation in the livers of green sunfish.

Cellular changes in hepatocytes of green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) exposed to arsenic-contaminated or control lake water were compared with the level of arsenic in the liver. Standard stereological procedures involved conversion of two-dimensional data (i.e. fractional measurements of morphological changes) to three-dimensional data for interpretation. Both the volume and numbers of nuclei increased slightly with increasing concentration of arsenic in the liver. Significant increases (p less than 0.01) were observed in the volumes occupied by necrotic and fibrous bodies as arsenic levels in the liver increased; linear regression analysis of these data resulted in 0.9066 and 0.9359 correlation coefficients for necrotic and fibrous bodies, respectively, when volume changes were considered on a unit body weight basis. The volume occupied by necrotic areas, abnormal lysosomes, and autophagic vacuoles increased with increased arsenic concentration. The surface density of rough endoplasmic reticulum increased with increasing arsenic concentration; linear regression resulted in a correlation coefficient of 0.8367 when data were based on unit body weight.