Observation on the microcirculatory architecture of the rat liver

Abstract

Abstract Microcirculation of rat livers was studied on preparations perfused with silicone rubber. Silicone rubber provided an excellent perfusion medium for the study of the special arrangement of hepatic microcirculation. As demonstrated by Gershbein and Elias ('54), a great portion of the hepatic venous tree of the rat liver receives sinusoidal channels and thus this portion is located centrilobularly. In the portal venous system of the rat liver, not only the distributing veins but also the conducting veins give rise to inlet venules regularly to adjacent peripheral sinusoids. Rich capillary networks of the periductal plexus which receive their afferent channels from the hepatic arteries and empty their blood either into the portion veins or into the adjacent peripheral sinusoids are demonstrated in the portal canals. Less prominent fine capillaries are distributed in the walls of portal veins and in the connective tissue components of larger portal canals. Existence of a more direct type of anastomoses between the hepatic arteries and portal veins through capillary networks in the medium and large sized portal canals is also indicated. Evidence for the existence of intralobular arteriolar terminals were not obtained and the present observation indicated that the hepatic arteries terminate at the periphery of the lobule.