[Morphological and functional characteristics of thyroid gland in the offspring of female rats with experimental chronic liver disease of various etiology].

The peculiarities of structural and functional development of the thyroid gland were studied in the offspring of female rats with experimental chronic liver disease. Morphometric methods as well as immune enzyme analysis were used. Impairment in the development of thyroid gland structure was found in experimental animals, as evidenced by lower magnitudes of volume density of follicular and intrafollicular epithelium, as well as by reduced values of thyrocyte height. Morphological changes of the thyroid gland in the offspring of female rats with chronic liver disease were accompanied by the impairment of the gland endocrine function (decreased serum levels of T3 and T4).