Histochemical, fluorescent and electron microscopical appearance of hepatocellular ceroidosis in the Atlantic salmon <i>Salmo salar</i> L.

Abstract

Abstract. In this work it is established that a close relationship exists between the feeding of rancid feed (containing high amounts of lipid peroxides and α, β‐unsaturated aldehydes) and lipoid liver degeneration (LLD) in fish. The main feature of the disease is a large accumulation of ceroid in hepatocytes, giving positive histochemical staining reactions with a number of selective stains. Tissues also reacted strongly for lipid peroxides and fluoresced a bright yellow‐green at 450 nm. This is the first report on the ultra structure of ceroid in LLD. The accumulations consist of bodies containing cholesterol or cholesterol ester crystals and inclusions with membranous profiles. The latter type of inclusion is considered to be representative of ceroid.