CHANGES IN BLOOD FLUIDITY IN THE EARLY STAGE OF HEPATOPATHY

Abstract

The present study was designed to examine the influence of the early stage of hepatopathy on blood fluidity. F344 male rats were fed chow containing 3'-methyl-4-dimethylaminoazobenzene at 0.06% (DAB) or regular diet (control). These rats were sacrificed 16 weeks after for the experiments. Histological observation of liver obtained from DAB intake rats showed fatty degeneration and atypical cells, indicating that oral administration of DAB for 16 weeks caused the early stages of hepatopathy in rats. We then examined blood fluidity and the levels of platelet aggregation by using a Micro Channel array Flow Analyzer and a PA-20, respectively. The fluidity of the blood obtained from DAB intake rats decreased and platelet aggregation increased as compared with those of control. In the DAB intake group, platelet aggregation might have been enhanced by inflammatory substances and cytokines in addition to changes of hepatic metabolic function resulting in a decrease of blood fluidity. Our results suggest that blood fluidity and platelet aggregation examination may be useful as an index of early stage in hepatopathy.