Steatosis

In cellularpathology, steatosis is a condition which is a marker of sublethal cellular injury. It is also known as fatty change. It is characterised by the presence of abnormally large quantities of fatwithin a cell. Steatosis may affect the cells of a variety of tissues and organs. It reflects an impairment of the normal process of constant synthesisand breakdown of triglyceridefat.

Steatosis may occur in the liveras a result of a variety of stresses, including hepatitis Cand exposure to poisons such as ethanol(alcohol). The fat accumulates in vesiclesthat displace the cytoplasm. When the vesicles are sufficiently large that they distort the nucleus, the condition is known as macrovesicular steatosis. Otherwise the condition is known as microvesicular steatosis.

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It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steatosis Wikipedia article Steatosis.