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THE EFFECT OF HEPATOTOXINS ON E 260 VALUES OF LIVER AND OF SERUM
Author(s) -
Gallagher CH
Publication year - 1961
Publication title -
australian journal of experimental biology and medical science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0004-945X
DOI - 10.1038/icb.1961.31
Subject(s) - hepatotoxin , carbon tetrachloride , chemistry , pyrrolizidine alkaloid , liver cell , pharmacology , liver injury , alkaloid , mitochondrion , biochemistry , toxicity , endocrinology , medicine , biology , stereochemistry , organic chemistry
SUMMARY The extinction coefficients at 260 mμ (E 260 ) of acid extracts of liver homogenates and of serum were measured in rats killed serially after dosing with the hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloid, lasiocarpine, or with lethal or non‐lethal doses of carbon tetrachloride. Both lasiocarpine and CCl 4 at either dose rate produced a fall in the E 260 value of liver within 1–5 hours of administration and a concomitant rise in the E 260 value of serum. The change in E 260 values was more rapid with CCl 4 than with lasiocarpine and the rise in serum E 260 was greater for a given fall in liver E 260 value with CCl 4 than with lasiocarpine. Although lasiocarpine caused a slower change, the fall in E 260 values for liver was eventually greater with the alkaloid than with either dose of CCl 4 . The loss from cells of cytoplasmic material which absorbs light at 260 mμ within 1–3 hours of dosing with CCl 4 , long before the effect of mitochondrial damage becomes evident, supports the hypothesis that cellular injury is first exerted by CCl 4 at the cell membrane rather than at the mitochondrial membrane. The inverse relationship between E 260 values of liver and of serum for lasiocarpine indicates that this hepatotoxin, like CCl 4 , increases the permeability to oxidised pyridine nucleotides of the cell membrane as well as of the mitochondrial membrane. The effect on cell permeability evidently occurs very soon after administration of the alkaloid. It is suggested that the determination of the E 260 values of acid extracts of serum might provide an early, simple test for the diagnosis and evaluation of certain types of toxic liver damage.