Objective - to examine the morphological peculiarities of hepatocytes of normotensive (Wistar) and spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) young male rats. Material and methods. Histological and morphometric studies were performed on the sections of liver of 24 rat of both strains stained with hematoxylin-eosin, Van Gieson, and using Masson method. Results. The differences in the structure of the liver between the rats of different strains were demonstrated. In the liver of SHR rats, the hepatocytes had significantly larger cell and nuclear sizes, higher nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio and proportion of binucleated cells, as compared to those in Wistar rats. Conclusions. Morphological features of hepatocytes from spontaneously hypertensive rats probably reflect the higher level of their metabolic processes than in Wistar rat hepatocytes.