The authors studied the 24-hour variations of mitoses in the stellate reticuloendothelial intralobular blood capillaries of rats under normal conditions and after bilateral subphrenic vagotomy. The greatest number of mitoses was noted in all the animals in the morning hours--3 to 7 a.m. A gradual decrease in the number of mitoses occurred in vagotomized and laparotomized animals by 10 p.m. After vagotomy the number of mitoses in the stellate reticuloendotheliocytes and in hepatocytes was double that in control; the character of the curve reflecting the 24-hour periodicity of mitoses in denervated liver was unchanged in comparison with control.
Animals Capillaries