Morphology of mitochondria and cell respiration,pt.1.

To reveal the mechanism of liver damage by taking CCl4 the author observed the liver tissues from rats at 1.5, 5, 6, 10, 17, 20, and 22 hours after the CCl4 administration, both by light microscope and electron-microscope. 1. Light microscope observation revealed the swelling of liver cells in the carly stage, the appearance of centrolobular fatty degeneration, focal degeneration area and the appearance of balloon cells, with the circulatory disturbances in accompanying stages and hemorrhage in the later stage. 2. Electron-microscope observation revealed the swelling of mitochondria, appearance of the files of thin ER's in the early stage and the regeneration and degeneration of mitochondria with an increase of microbodies in number. Fat droplets are developed from small ones probably from some microbodies without correlation with mitochondria. 3. From these observations the author is of the opinion that CCl4 arrests the cells at first inducing the swelling of cells and their mitochondria, but later the degenerative changes will become severe being complicated by the anoxia which is induced by the circulatory disturbances caused by the compression of vessels with the swollen cells.