Cyanamide-induced liver cell injury. Experimental study in the rat.

Hepatocyte inclusion bodies similar to those described in alcoholics treated with cyanamide were reproduced in the rat. The characteristic inclusions were developed in animals receiving 8 or 16 mg/kg of body weight, whether they were prepared previously with ethanol intake or not. Inclusion bodies consist of round, well-demarcated cytoplasmic areas, which contain a large amount of glycogen disposed in beta-granules, lipid droplets, and secondary lysosomes. They appear at the 13th week of cyanamide treatment onward. Initially, hepatocytes bearing inclusion bodies are located predominantly at the periportal areas, but the lesion later progresses toward the center of the lobule. Prior to the inclusion body development, cyanamide induces another morphologic change in liver cells, consisting of cytoplasmic homogeneous areas, made up of glycogen disposed in alpha-granules and smooth endoplasmic reticulum tubules. This change is described for the first time in relation to this drug.