Adenofibrosis in the Rat Liver

Abstract

Fifty male Sherman strain rats were fed 500 ppm of a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) (Aroclor 1254) for six months. Five each were killed zero, one, two, three, four, six, eight, and ten months after exposure to Aroclor had ceased. The livers of these rats were examined by light and electron microscopy. Liver lesions persisted although exposure to PCBs ceased.

Ten months after exposure ceased, 1,192 ppm PCBs were still present in the rats’ adipose tissue and 22.65 ppm in the rat livers.

Aroclor patterns found in the tissues by electron capture gas chromatography differed from patterns of dietary Aroclors. Mass spectral analysis of liver and adipose tissue revealed three major Aroclor components with masses of 324, 358, and 392. These contained isotopic clusters indicative of the presence of C1₅, C1₆, and C1₇, respectively.