Plasma alkaline phosphatase and experimental cholestasis of squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus)

Abstract

We have attempted to cause cholestasis in squirrel monkeys by ligation of the common bile duct or by oral administration of alpha-naphthyl isothiocyanate (ANIT), and studied alteration of plasma alkaline phosphatase (ALP)isoenzymes following liver injuries.
Bile duct ligation was associated with a markedelevation of plasma bilirubin, ALP and r-GTP. Proliferation of bile ductules in the liver was obvious at 14 days after treatment. An increased ALP activity in plasma migrated identically with hepatic ALP on polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis. However, a macromolecular ALP characteristic for extrahepatic cholestasis in humans was not clearly detected on agar gel electrophoresis.
On the other hand, oral administration of ANIT 50 mg/kg daily for 14 days developed a massive hepatic lesion predominantly in parenchymal cells but not in bile ductules. A hydropic swelling of parenchymal cells was prominent in the liver, accompanied with a marked elevation of plasma GOT, GPT and bilirubin. An elevation of plasma ALP, however, was rather mild and isoenzyme pattern of ALP in plasma was without significant difference from that of control monkeys.