Escherichia colilipopolysaccharide effects on proliferating rat liver cells in culture: a morphological and functional study

Abstract Liver cells have been implicated in playing an important role in the pathogenesis of endotoxic shock-associated liver injury. The present study was designed to investigate Escherichia coli 0111:B4 lipopolysaccharide (LPS) effects on proliferating rat liver cells in culture. Isolated cell system can rarely serve as models of complete organisms, but with using an in vitro test-model, endogenic factors (e.g. hormonal effects, nervous influences, blood activation, etc.) or experimental stress in laboratory animals can be eliminated as variables affecting hepatocellular responses. In the proposed in vitro model, using specially proliferating liver cells, morphological cell alterations were observed after 30 min and low doses endotoxin administration (10 μg/ml). LPS induced an extreme fragility and a diminished adhesion capacity on cells. Cell-to-cell contacts were also disturbed. The LPS treatment produced extreme heterogeneity in liver cell size, enlargement of nuclei, nuclear and cytoplasmic protrusions, and increased the number of large nucleoli and lipid droplets, also decreasing the angiotensin action on intracellular calcium levels. The effects observed after the LPS exposition can be related with an altered metabolism of the liver cells in culture due to a destabilization of plasma membrane, a transmembrane signalling alteration, and a mitochondrial damage. The specificity of cell response to endotoxic lipopolysaccharide suggests a multiple membrane damage inducing important metabolic disturbances.