Abstract
Two groups of experimental animals with pair-fed controls were studied to evaluate the effect of chronic carbon monoxide (CO) exposure on progression of experimental alcoholic liver injury. Eight pairs of male Wistar rats were continuously infused liquid diet and ethanol or isocaloric dextrose for four months. Four pairs were also exposed to CO. Liver damage was followed monthly by serum ALT and morphologic assessment of liver biopsy. Serum levels of ALT were significantly higher in the CO-ethanol group compared to other groups. Electron microscopy revealed a greater degree of cell necrosis in the CO exposed group which explained the significantly higher ALT activity in these animals. Both experimental groups (CO-ethanol and air-ethanol) had significantly greater liver damage than controls. Carboxyhemoglobin levels were not different in the ethanol-fed and control group. Our results show that chronic CO exposure enhances liver cell necrosis in ethanol-fed rats thereby lending support to the hypothesis that ethanol and hypoxia enhance cellular disruption in the liver which could be important in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease in rats.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 885-890 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Life Sciences |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1989 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors wish to thank Leigh Anne Stefani for diet administration and animal surgery, John Verboon, Marilyn Keaney and Ross Layberry for advice and technical assistance and Esabella Chin for typing the manuscript. This study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, Banting Research Foundation and Medical Research Council of Canada.
ASJC Scopus Subject Areas
- General Biochemistry,Genetics and Molecular Biology
- Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics(all)