Occurrence of tubuloreticular inclusions in acute viral hepatitis.

Light and electron microscopy were used to study the liver needle-biopsy material of 20 patients with acute viral hepatitis. According to clinical and serologic data, 5 cases proved to be acute viral hepatitis type A, 13 were type B, and 2 were type non-A/non-B. In 2 of the hepatitis type A, in 6 of the hepatitis type B, and in one of the type non-A/non-B cases, tubuloreticular inclusions (TRI) were found in the endoplasmic reticulum of the sinusoidal endothelial cells of the liver. These data support the possible presumption that the inclusions represent a characteristic reaction of the endoplasmic reticulum to different influences, as for example to viral infection, rather than to the virus itself.