HEPATOTOXICITY OF CARBON-TETRACHLORIDE IN DEVELOPING RATS

Twenty-four hours following administration of CCl4 (1 ml/kg, ip), plasma activities of aspartate aminotransferase were elevated to the same extent in adult rats and in rats as young as 4 days of age. Similarly, treatment with CCl4 produced the same degree of triglyceride accumulation in liver of adult rats and rats as young as 4 days of age. The presence of microsomal conjugated dienes, a measure of lipid peroxidation, was observed in adult and developing rats treated with CCl4. In vitro binding of 14C derived from 14CCl4 to hepatic microsomal protein and lipid was significantly lower in 4- and 14-day-old rats than in adults. These results demonstrate that rats as young as 4 days of age are as susceptible as adults to CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity, although they have a lower capacity to metabolize CCl4. Blood concentrations of acetoacetate were three to five times higher in young rats than in adult animals. The mechanism for the high degree of CCl4-induced liver damage in young rats is not known but may be similar to the mechanisms by which alcohols and diabetes potentiate CCl4 toxicity. © 1979.