Figure 2. Hematoxylin-eosin and PAS staining of liver sections of Diclofenac treated mice.

Depicted are representative examples of vehicle control and diclofenac treated animals. (A) from the left to the right: H & E stain of vehicle control, single (day 1, 30 mg/kg) and repeated diclofenac treatment of mice (day 3, 150 mg/kg). With control animals the nuclei of hepatocytes appeared quiescent and the cytoplasm of hepatocytes is rich in glycogen (“cloudy”). With treated animals hydropic cytoplasmic swelling of hepatocytes and occasionally eosinophilic hepatocytes are observed (upper left corner, 150 mg/kg animal). The nuclei are activated and the nucleoli are enlarged. The degenerative changes are more pronounced at the higher dose (magnification 200x). (B) from the left to the right: PAS staining of vehicle control and single (day 1) diclofenac treatment at 30 and 150 mg/kg. When compared to vehicle controls a significant reduction in the intense PAS staining of hepatocytes was observed to suggest hepatic depletion of glycogen as a result of diclofenac treatment (magnification 100x). (C) from the left to the right: PAS staining of vehicle control and after repeated diclofenac treatment (day 3) at 30 and 150 mg/kg. Similar to Panel B and when compared to controls the PAS stain revealed significant depletion of the hepatic glycogen content. Note, the dilatated bile duct in the image given on the right possibly indicates early signs of bile duct obstruction (magnification 100x). (D) from the left to the right: H & E stain of repeated diclofenac treatment for 2 days at 150 mg/kg. An example of foamy hepatocytes (“hepatic cholesterolosis”) is given. The second image of panel D (x70 magnification) depicts infarct necrosis observed with an animal after repeated dosing at 30 mg/kg for 3 days. The image on the right is a Diastase-PAS stain and a higher magnification of the infarct necrosis and the fresh thrombosis of the adjacent portal vein (magnification 200x).