Question:medium
Chronic alcoholic patient with history of increasing abdominal girth. On liver biopsy there are reddish inclusions. What are these made up of?
Chronic alcoholic patient with history of increasing abdominal girth. On liver biopsy there are reddish inclusions. What are these made up of?
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Identify the cytoskeletal protein that aggregates to form Mallory bodies in alcoholic hepatitis.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Actin
- Microtubules
- Intermediate filaments
- Myofibril
Show Solution
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
The reddish eosinophilic inclusions on liver biopsy in a chronic alcoholic are Mallory-Denk bodies. These form due to defective protein processing in hepatocytes exposed to chronic ethanol.
Composition: They consist of aggregated $cytokeratin\ 8$ and $cytokeratin\ 18$, which belong to the intermediate filament class of cytoskeletal proteins. Intermediate filaments (8-10 nm in diameter) are distinct from thin filaments (actin, 7 nm) and thick filaments (myosin), as well as microtubules (25 nm).
Key associations of Mallory bodies:
- Alcoholic hepatitis (most classic)
- Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
- Primary biliary cholangitis
- Wilson disease
Excess accumulation of cytoskeletal elements reflects cell dystrophy in the hepatocyte.
\[\boxed{\text{Intermediate filaments (cytokeratin 8 and 18)}}\]
Composition: They consist of aggregated $cytokeratin\ 8$ and $cytokeratin\ 18$, which belong to the intermediate filament class of cytoskeletal proteins. Intermediate filaments (8-10 nm in diameter) are distinct from thin filaments (actin, 7 nm) and thick filaments (myosin), as well as microtubules (25 nm).
Key associations of Mallory bodies:
- Alcoholic hepatitis (most classic)
- Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)
- Primary biliary cholangitis
- Wilson disease
Excess accumulation of cytoskeletal elements reflects cell dystrophy in the hepatocyte.
\[\boxed{\text{Intermediate filaments (cytokeratin 8 and 18)}}\]
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