MODIFICATION OF CARBON TETRACHLORIDE-INDUCED HEPATIC CHANGES BY CERVICAL CORD-SECTION

Abstract

Carbon tetrachloride was administered to intact and cervical cord-sectioned rats.Centrilobular hepatic cell necrosis and triglyceride accumulation were suppressed by the preceding cord-section. And the calcium content which increased markedly in the late stage of CCI₄ poisoning also remained low in the operated animals. However, activity of glucose-6-phosphatase of liver homogenate and in vivo incorporation of 1-¹⁴C-glycine into liver protein and into plasma albumin fell strikingly in both the operated and intact rats. In accordance with the biochemical findings, mitochondrial disintegration seen in the late stage of poisoning in unoperated rats was almost completely lacking in cord-sectioned animals, while the alterations in ER system were extensive in the both groups. These results indicate that in cord-sectioned rats there is a discrepancy between the changes of mitochondria and ER in CCI₄ poisoning.