“Sternzellen” in the liver: Perisinusoidal cells with special reference to storage of vitamin A

Abstract

The “Sternzellen” (von Kupffer, 1876) in the liver of normal animals and of those injected with excess vitamin A were examined with the light and electron microscopes. These cells were stellate perisinusoidal cells located in the space of Disse and were separated from the sinusoidal lumen by the endothelium. Their cytoplasm contained a number of lipid droplets which reacted intensely with gold chloride. These lipid droplets imparted intense vitamin A fluorescence under the fluorescence microscope. Following the administration of excess vitamin A, these lipid droplets increased remarkably. The “Sternzellen” were identical with cells described as “interstitial” or “fat‐storing” cells by others, and were quite different from the so‐called Kupffer cells of the liver reticulo‐endothelial system.