Relationship of liver damage and liver regeneration after carbon tetrachloride treatment in rats.

Abstract

Various doses of carbon tetrachloride (0.625 mmol to 10 mmol CCl4/kg body weight) were administered to female Wistar rats. Liver damage after a single treatment was evaluated by serum aminotransferase levels and by the extent of necrotic areas in parenchyma. Liver regeneration was evaluated by 3H-thymidine incorporation into liver DNA and by the number of dividing hepatocytes. Mitotic index of hepatocytes rose in parallel with the specific activity of DNA and with the extent of necrosis. However, the activities of serum aminotransferase AST and ALT increased much more rapidly and did not correlate either with necrosis or with regeneration rate. Increased membrane permeability in morphologically intact cells, increased synthesis of the enzymes by the liver as well as the leakage from necrotic cells are discussed as possible causes of the high aminotransferase activities in serum.