Liver cell cytoplasmic inclusions in experimental porphyrias: their demonstration with the ferric ferricyanide reduction reaction.

In the present paper we describe needle-shaped and granular cytoplasmic inclusions in the liver cells of mice and rats with experimental porphyria biochemically resembling human porphyria cutanea tarda. The inclusions were inconspicuous in routine histological slides. The ferric ferricyanide reduction reaction, however, enabled us to demonstrate their shape and location within the hepatic lobule. Needle-shaped inclusions are considered to represent a structure specifically seen in experimental porphyrias resembling porphyria cutanea tarda. These structures are similar to the inclusions seen in human porphyria cutanea tarda.