The prevalence and morphological features of hyperplastic nodules in the liver of the dog were studied in a series of 50 consecutive post-mortem examinations. Macroscopically visible nodules were present in 35 of 50 dogs (70%), and the prevalence was related to age. The earliest age at which nodules were found was between 6 and 8 years. They were present in all dogs older than 14 or more years. The lesions were focal, multiple and consistently had evidence of a lobular pattern. There was no liver fibrosis. No direct association between previous drug administration or specific extrahepatic disease was found.
Changes in the perisinusoidal fat storing cells (Ito cells) were observed in the dogs in this study. These changes comprised proliferation and hypertrophy and were recorded predominantly in dogs with hepatic nodules. The presence of a ceroid pigment was correlated with these changes. The pigment, together with lipid and macrophages, was present in the form of lipogranulomata. Lipogranulomata were observed in the parenchyma and in the portal areas of dogs with hepatic nodules. These changes may play a role in the pathogenesis of nodular hyperplasia in the liver of the dog.
References
1.
BaumJ.K.HoltzF.BooksteinJ.J.KleinE.W.:
Possible association between benign hepatomas and oral contraceptives.Lancetii:
926–929,
1973
2.
BlendisL.M.ParkinsonM.C.ShilkinK.B.WilliamsR.:
Nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver in Felty's syndrome.Q J Med43:
25–32,
1974
3.
BronfenmajerS.SchaffnerF.PopperH.:
Fat-storing cells (lipocytes) in human liver.Arch Pathol82:
447–453,
1966
4.
EdmondsonH.A.ReynoldsT.B.HendersonB.BentonB.:
Regression of liver cell adenomas associated with oral contraceptive.Ann Intern Med86:
180–182,
1977
5.
FabryA.BenjaminS.A.AngletonG.M.:
Nodular hyperplasia of the liver in the beagle dog.Vet Pathol19:
109–119,
1982
6.
GoodpastureE.W.:
An anatomical study of senescence in dogs, with especial reference to the cellular changes of age to tumors.J Med Res38:
127–190,
1918
7.
GrassoP.HardyJ.:
Strain difference in natural incidence and response to carcinogenesis.In:
Mouse Hepatic Neoplasia,
ed. ButlerNewberne,
pp. 111–132.
Elsevier Scientific,
London,
1975
8.
HartroftW.S.PortaE.A.:
Observation and interpretation of lipid pigments (lipofuscins) in the pathology of laboratory animals.CRC Crit Rev Toxicol1:
379–411,
1973
9.
HayashiM.TsudaH.ItoN.:
Histopathological classification of spontaneous hyperplastic liver nodules in slaughtered swine.J Comp Pathol93:
603–612,
1983
10.
ItoT.NemotoM.:
Uber die Kupfferschen sternzellen und die Fettspeicherungszellen (“fat storing cells”) in der Blutkapillarenwand der menschlichen Leber.Okajimas Folia Anat Jpn24:
243–258,
1952
11.
JonesG.ButlerW.H.:
Morphology of spontaneous and induced neoplasia.In:
Mouse Hepatic Neoplasia,
ed. ButlerNewberne,
pp. 21–59.
Elsevier Scientific,
London,
1975
12.
JubbK.V.F.KennedyP.C.:
Pathology of Domestic Animals,
vol. 2,
p. 203.
Academic Press,
New York and London,
1970
13.
KnowlesD.M.WolffM.:
Focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver.Hum Pathol7:
533–545,
1976
14.
LesnaM.SpencerI.WalkerW.:
Liver nodules and androgens.Lanceti:
1124,
1976
15.
McGeeJ.O'D.PatrickR.S.:
The role of perisinusoidal cells in hepatic fibrogenesis: an electron microscopic study of acute carbon tetrachloride liver injury.Lab Invest26:
429–493,
1972
16.
MaysE.T.ChristophersonW.M.BarrowsG.H.:
Focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver. Possible relationship to oral contraceptives.Am J Clin Pathol61:
735–746,
1974
17.
MoultonJ.E.Tumors in Domestic Animals,
pp. 281–282,
2nd ed.University of California Press,
Berkeley,
1978
18.
MulliganR.M.:
Primary liver cell carcinoma (hepatoma) in the dog.Cancer Res9:
76–81,
1949
19.
NieberleCohrs:
Textbook of the Special Pathological Anatomy of Domestic Animals,
p. 500.
Pergamon Press Ltd.,
Oxford,
1966
20.
RougierP.DegottC.RueffB.BenhamouJ-P.:
Nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver.Gastroenterology75:
169–172,
1978
21.
SherlockS.:
Diseases of the Liver and Biliary System,
pp. 312–317,
6th ed.Blackwell,
London,
1982
22.
SherlockS.FeldmanC.A.MoranB.ScheuerP.J.:
Partial nodular transformation of the liver with portal hypertension.Am J Med40:
195–203,
1966
23.
SquireR.A.GoodmanD.G.ValerioG.FredricksonT.N.StrandbergJ.D.LevittM.H.LingemanC.H.HarshbargerJ.C.DaweC.J.:
Tumors.In:
Pathology of Laboratory Animals,
ed. BenirschkeGarnerJones,
pp. 1159–1160.
Springer-Verlag,
New York,
1978
24.
SquireR.A.LevittM.H.:
Report of a workshop on classification of specific hepatocellular lesions in rats.Cancer Res35:
3214–3223,
1975
25.
SteinerP.E.:
Nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver.Am J Pathol35:
943–946,
1959
26.
StewartH.L.SnellK.C.:
The histopathology of experimental tumors of the liver of the rat.In:
The Physiopathology of Cancer,
ed. Homburger,
pp. 85–126,
2nd ed.Hoeber-Harper,
New York,
1959
27.
StromeyerF.W.IshakK.G.:
Nodular transformation (nodular “regenerative” hyperplasia) of the liver.Hum Pathol12:
60–71,
1981
28.
SweeneyE.C.EvansD.J.:
Hepatic lesions in patients treated with synthetic anabolic steroids.J Clin Pathol29:
626–633,
1976
29.
WakeK.:
“Sternzellen” in the liver: Perisinusoidal cells with special reference to storage of vitamin A.Am J Anat132:
429–462,
1971
30.
WakeK.:
Development of vitamin A-rich lipid droplets in multivesicular bodies of rat liver stellate cells.J Cell Biol63:
683–691,
1974
31.
WakeK.:
Perisinusoidal stellate cells (fat-storing cells, interstitial cells, lipocytes), their related structure in and around the liver sinusoids, and vitamin A-storing cells in extrahepatic organs.Int Rev Cytol66:
303–353,
1980
32.
WanlessI.R.GodwinT.A.AllenF.FederA.:
Nodular regenerative hyperplasia of the liver in hematologic disorders: A possible response to obliterative portal venopathy.Medicine (Baltimore)59:
367–379,
1980
33.
WeinbrenK.MutumS.S.:
Pathological aspects of diffuse nodular hyperplasia of the liver.J Pathol143:
81–92,
1984
34.
WeinbrenK.WashingtonS.L.A.:
Hyperplastic nodules after portacaval anastomosis in rats.Nature264:
440–442,
1976
35.
WhelanT.J.Jr.BaughJ.H.ChandorS.:
Focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver.Ann Surg177:
150,
1973
36.
ZimmermanH.J.IshakK.G.:
Hepatic injury due to drugs and toxins.In:
Pathology of the Liver,
ed. Mac-SweenAnthonyScheuer,
pp. 335–386.
Churchill Livingstone,
London,
1979
