While it is known that the small GTP-binding protein rab6 is localized in vitro to the Golgi apparatus of several mammalian cells, its behaviour in vivo has not yet been investigated. The aim of this work was to compare by immunocytochemistry and immunoblotting the distribution of rab6 in hepatocytes from normal rats and from rats with an acute inflammatory reaction, a circumstance where the synthesis and secretion of plasma proteins by the hepatocytes is increased and which is accompanied by several changes in the Golgi apparatus. Our results show that in normal rats, rab6 was present in all hepatocytes irrespective of the location of the cell in the hepatic lobule. At the ultrastructural level, rab6 was mainly visible on the three Golgi saccules, but in some cells it appeared to be absent in saccules corresponding to the cis or the trans saccule. The inflammatory reaction was accompanied by an increase of the immunocytochemical labelling at the light and electron microscopy levels. However, by immunoblotting, no differences in the total amount of rab6, nor in its subcellular distribution were found in liver cells after acute inflammatory reaction. These results demonstrate that rab6 is restricted in vivo to the Golgi apparatus and that no significant redistribution occurs during an acute inflammatory reaction.