ABSTRACT
Weanling (21-day-old) Norvegicus Wistar male rats were submitted to protein malnutrition for 120 days, and after this period the livers were studied with morphohistochemical techniques. When compared to controls, protein-deprived rats showed a wide cytoplasmic vacuolization of hepatocytes due to fatty degeneration. They also had lower rates of glucose-6-phosphatase activity, resulting in higher glycogen stores. There also minor changes in elastic and reticular fibrils. Other histochemically-delected compounds, such as glycosaminoglycans, reducing radicals and iron stores have not apparently changed, despite impaired protein intake. Morphohistochemical changes exhibited a zonal lobular heterogeneity. The results suggest that protein malnutrition can alter rat liver structure and function by affecting carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism. This study also highlights the hepatic lobular metabolic heterogeneity and its modulation when submitted to adverse conditions.