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saechao86 saechao86
wrote...
13 years ago
Timothy is only 18 years old, but he appears to have liver disease.  A liver biopsy is performed and reveals microscopic abnormalities as well as an abnormal chemical test.  He is found to have large amounts of glycogen granules in his liver cells, with many being intact within lysosomes, and his liver cells show an unusually extensive smooth endoplasmic reticulum.  Timothy admits that he has a history of drug abuse, but claims that he is now in recovery.  Explain why Timothy is experiencing this liver disease as such a young age.  Be sure to explain how your diagnosis is leading to the abnormalities seen in the results of the administered tests. 

I know why their is smooth endoplasmic reticulum in his liver, but I can't seem to find why their is lysosome intact with glycogen granules in the liver.

Isn't the function of lysosome is to break down waste products.  I don't see why it attached itself with the glycogen granules.  Are they breaking down the glycogen?
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wrote...
13 years ago
Hope I'm not jumping the gun but I believe this person likely has acid maltase deficiency, aka Pompe disease, and this is not caused by his history of drug addiction. In fact, it's genetics! This disease is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by an excessive accumulation of glycogen within lysosome-derived vacuoles in nearly all types of cells.

why do you suppose there are large amounts of smooth endoplasmic reticulum, just so that we're on the same page Neutral Face
saechao86 Author
wrote...
13 years ago
This is just a clinical question my instructor gave us.  The liver damage is caused by drugs not acid maltase deficiency.  Although, it was a good guess.  thanks

One of the function for smooth ER is drug detoxification.  That why his liver was producing more Smooth ER in the liver then usual. 
wrote...
Staff Member
13 years ago
The smooth endoplasmic reticulum forms tubules and vesicles. It contains the microsomes. It is the site of bilirubin conjugation and the detoxification of many drugs and other foreign compounds (p450 systems). The lysosomes contain many hydrolytic enzymes which, when released, could destroy the affected cells in the liver. They are like intra-cellular scavengers which destroy organelles with shortened life spans.

As far as I know, not sure why they would couple with the glycogen, though this is common in liver cancer. Recall that liver has much more glycogen than normal cells and glycogen is found in the cytoplasm, regardless. Thinking Face
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