Intracytoplasmic study of hepatocytes with clear cytoplasm: pre-steatotic lesions or balloniform degeneration?

Following the worldwide epidemics of obesity and metabolic disorders, fatty liver disease is taking the scene as leading cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality. The disease progression is characterized by an abnormal accumulation of triglycerides in the hepatic cells and hence by uncontrolled alterations of the hepatocytes. This proposal aims to morphologically characterize human liver tissues of bariatric patients by X-ray nano-holotomography. Thanks to its high spatial and contrast resolution capabilities, the nano-tomographic approach will enable to observe and evaluate hepatocytes inner structures and their 3D distribution with sub-cellular resolution. This is an unprecedent study with the objective to identify relevant hepatic differences at the microscopic level that might be of relevance for the biopsy examination of patients’ tissues.