Protective effect of diethylmaleate pretreatment on carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity

The administration of diethylmaleate (DEM) to fed and fasted rats produced a marked depletion of hepatic reduced glutathione (GSH) to 26 and 20% of respective saline control values 30 min after drug administration. When carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) was administered to fasted animals pretreated with saline or DEM, the serum enzymes GOT, GPT, and ICDH were elevated 24 hr after intoxication, but the increases were greater in the saline-pretreated group (p < 0.05). The administration of CCl₄ to fed animals produced elevations in serum GOT, GPT, and ICDH 24 hr after intoxication that were of similar magnitude in the saline- and DEM-pretreated groups (p > 0.05). CCl₄ administration to fed rats produced altered hepatocellular architecture that was of similar magnitude in saline- and DEM-pretreated animals. However, in fasted animals, the histological changes following CCl₄ administration were more severe in saline-pretreated animals when compared to the DEM-pretreated group. The data suggest that DEM pretreatment exerts a protective effect against CCl₄-induced hepatic injury in fasted rats that may be related to the ability of DEM to inhibit hepatic microsomal drug metabolism.     

Reduction by pretreatment with dibenamine of hepatotoxicity induced by carbon tetrachloride, thioacetamide or dimethylnitrosamine

Pretreatment with dibenamine (25 mg/kg sc 48 and 24 hr before the administration of a hepatotoxic agent) protected rats against the hepatotoxicity of CCl₄, thioacetamide, or dimethylnitrosamine, but not against allyl alcohol or bromobenzene. Protection was evident from reduced activity of plasma glutamic-pyruvic transaminase and reduced liver necrosis as demonstrated by histologic evaluations. In rats pretreated with dibenamine, LD50 values for CCl₄ and thioacetamide were elevated and liver triglycerides after CCl₄ and dimethylnitrosamine were reduced. Dibenamine protection against hepatotoxicity did not correlate with alpha-adrenergic receptor blockade. Similar pretreatment with 3 other alpha-adrenergic blocking agents, tolazoline, phenoxybenzamine, and EEDQ (N-ethoxycarbonyl-2-ethoxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline), failed to protect rats against CCl₄-induced hepatotoxicity.     

Potentiation of carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity in rats by pretreatment with polychlorinated biphenyls.

Pretreatment of male rats with Aroclor 1254 at a dose of 25 mg/kg i.p. for 6 days resulted in potentiation of the hepatotoxicity of inhaled carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) as evidenced by a decrease in liver glucose-6-phosphatase and elevations of serum glutamic oxalacetic transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), isocitrate dehydrogenase, and sorbitol dehydrogenase. Aroclor 1254 alone did not demonstrate hepatotoxicity. Aroclor 1254 administration resulted in large increases in cytochrome c reductase, cytochrome P-450 (448) AND P-Nitroanisole demethylation. Subsequent exposure to CCl4 vapor resulted in over 70% decreases in the latter two parameters. The potentiation was dose-dependent with a dose of 5 mg/kg or higher being effective. Aroclor 1260 administration gave results similar to those of Aroclor 1254, but Aroclor 1221 enhanced CCl4 toxicity to a lesser extent.     

Potentiation of carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity by phenylpropanolamine

Hepatic necrosis produced by carbon tetrachloride (0.02, 0.06, or 0.20 ml/kg, ip) in mice was found to be potentiated by simultaneous cotreatment with phenylpropanolamine (200 mg/kg, ip), a drug with catecholamine-like pharmacologic effects. The ability to potentiate carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic necrosis was shared by a compound with agonist effects relatively selective for alpha 2-adrenoreceptors (clonidine, 5 mg/kg, ip), but not by specific alpha 1-adrenoreceptor agonists (phenylephrine, up to 100 mg/kg, ip and methoxamine, up to 50 mg/kg, ip) or by the beta-adrenoreceptor agonist isoproterenol (up to 100 mg/kg, ip). Yohimbine (5 mg/kg, ip), a selective alpha 2-adrenoreceptor antagonist, completely blocked the potentiating effect of phenylpropanolamine on carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity, providing further evidence that the increased hepatotoxic response with phenylpropanolamine cotreatment was mediated through alpha 2-adrenoreceptor stimulation. Four potential mechanisms for phenylpropanolamine potentiation of liver injury from carbon tetrachloride were examined: (1) increased concentrations of carbon tetrachloride in the liver from greater absorption or altered distribution; (2) diminished food consumption leading to a starvation-like increase in responsiveness to carbon tetrachloride; (3) impaired detoxification through a depletion of hepatic glutathione content; and (4) enhanced toxicity produced by elevated core body temperature. None of these potential mechanisms was supported by the experimental results. It is concluded that phenylpropanolamine and related compounds potentiate carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity through a mechanism involving alpha 2-adrenoreceptor stimulation that has yet to be identified.     

Modification of carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity by chemicals.

Cobaltous chloride (60 mg/kg, sc, daily for 2 days), which was found to effectively decrease the microsomal cytochrome P-450 content of mouse liver to approximately half of its normal value and which impaired the oxidative metabolism or hydroxylation of aminopyrine, ethylmorphine, and hexobarbital, offered no protection against CCl₄-induced liver damage. However, this hemoprotein inhibitor had no effect on the rate of reduction of cytochrome P-450 by NADPH and exerted a slight effect on aniline hydroxylation. SKF-525A (50 mg/kg, ip) also failed to protect against CCl₄ hepatotoxicity though it has been shown to inhibit the hydroxylation of a number of substrates. This inhibitor, a type I compound, was found to enhance cytochrome P-450 reduction by NADPH. Further studies revealed that CCl₄-induced hepatic injury could be prevented by phenazine methosulfate (2 mg/kg, ip, 5 doses at 0.5-hr intervals), which in vitro was found to inhibit NADPH-cytochrome c reductase noncompetitively. All of these findings are not satisfactorily explainable by electron transfer from NADPH-cytochrome c reductase to CCl₄ as the activation reaction for CCl₄ but are compatible with the hypothesis previously proposed by others that cytochrome P-450 is the critical site for CCl₄ activation.     

Potentiation of carbon tetrachloride induced hepatotoxicity by thinner inhalation

The interaction of thinner and carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced hepatotoxicity was studied in the rats using the activity of plasma GOT and GPT, liver triglyceride and histopathologic changes of liver necrosis as indices. The animals were housed in a chamber with the continuous flow of thinner vapour (1.11 g/litre/hr) for 2 hrs prior to i.p. administration of CCl4 (0.1 ml/kg BW) at 18 hrs after thinner inhalation. Thinner inhalation potentiated CCl4 induced hepatotoxicity in a dose-dependent manner. The maximal enhanced effect was observed at 24 hrs after CCl4 administration by which the activities of PGOT and PGPT were significantly increased (3 folds). Thinner itself caused an additive effect on CCl4 induced liver triglyceride accumulation. At 18 hrs after thinner inhalation, the activity of NADPH cytochrome C reductase was markedly increased (2.2 folds) but no change in the activity of aminopyrine N-demethylase which was able to increase the 14.CCl3 free radicals and binding to both the hepatic microsomal proteins (1.8 folds) and lipids (1.4 folds). In addition, thinner pretreatment somehow increased hepatic lipid peroxidation by 1.4 folds. These results suggest that thinner pretreatment causes an increase in mixed function oxidases to activate the formation of .CCl3 free radicals and binding to the microsomal proteins and lipids, which in turn stimulate hepatic damage via lipid peroxidation in the membrane.     

Enhanced hepatotoxicity of carbon tetrachloride, thioacetamide, and dimethylnitrosamine by pretreatment of rats with ethanol and some comparisons with potentiation by isopropanol.

Elevated plasma glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) activity induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄), thioacetamide, or dimethylnitrosamine in male rats was increased by pretreatment with four doses (each 5 ml/kg) of ethanol orally 48, 42, 24, and 18 hr before the hepatotoxic agent. The potentiated hepatotoxicity of CCl₄ was confirmed by histologic evaluation. During the pretreatment, blood ethanol concentrations fluctuated between 0 and 300 mg/100 ml, but were less than 5 mg/100 ml when a hepatotoxic agent was injected ip. Pretreatment with ethanol did not affect the hepatic concentrations of CCl₄ or its metabolite, chloroform (CHCl₃), at 1 hr after administration of CCl₄. The CCl₄-induced diene conjugation tended to increase after ethanol pretreatment and was significantly potentiated by pretreatment with isopropanol or pyrazole and a single dose of ethanol. In rats pretreated with ethanol, covalent binding of ¹⁴CCl₄ to liver protein and lipid in vivo was significantly greater at 6 and 24 hr, but not during the first 3 hr, than in control rats. The in vitro binding of ¹⁴CCl₄, ¹⁴CHCl₃, and ¹⁴CBrCl₃ to hepatic microsomal protein was increased by ethanol pretreatment. Ethanol pretreatment also doubled the in vitro rate of demethylation of dimethyl-nitrosamine by liver microsomes, but did not affect the amount of microsomal protein and cytochrome P-450, NADPH c reductase activity nor the rate of N-demethylation of ethylmorphine. The similarities in microsomal effects of pretreatment with isopropanol and pretreatment with four doses of ethanol suggest that similar mechanisms are involved in their potentiation of CCl₄-induced hepatotoxicity. The potentiation by pretreatment with ethanol, but not with isopropanol, of the hepatotoxicity of thioacetamide and dimethylnitrosamine suggests that ethanol pretreatment also activates some additional mechanisms.     

Effect of ethanol on carbon tetrachloride levels and hepatotoxicity after acute carbon tetrachloride poisoning

To study the effect of an acute dose of ethanol on carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) concentration and hepatotoxicity, female rats received ethanol (2.5 ml/kg body wt.) either intragastrically or intraperitoneally following intragastric administration of CCl₄ (1.5 ml/kg body wt.). Three hours after acute CCl₄ intoxication there was a striking increase in CCl₄ concentration in animals treated simultaneously with ethanol intragastrically compared to those receiving ethanol intraperitoneally. This increase was significant (P<0.05) and amounted to 211% for blood, 236% for liver and 405% for fat tissue, whereas animals treated with CCl₄ alone showed CCl₄ concentrations in the range between the two other experimental groups. Serum activities of glutamate oxalacetate transaminase, glutamate pyruvate transaminase and glutamate dehydrogenase were found to be considerably higher in animals treated with the combination of CCl₄ and ethanol when compared to those receiving CCl₄ alone, showing that ethanol given intraperitoneally or intragastrically enhances CCl₄ hepatotoxicity. Since the intraperitoneal administration of ethanol led to a reduction rather than an increase in CCl₄ concentration in the early phase of intoxication, additional mechanisms independent of actual levels of CCl₄, such as direct effects of ethanol on the CCl₄ metabolizing enzyme of the membrane of the endoplasmic reticulum, have to be implicated in the pathogenesis of the potentiation of CCl₄ hepatotoxicity by ethanol.     

Effect of hypoxia on carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity

The effect of hypoxia on carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity was studied. Male rats were exposed to carbon tetrachloride for 2 hr in the presence of differing oxygen concentrations. Serum glutamate-pyruvate transaminase (SGPT) activities were measured 24 hr after the end of the exposure. Exposure of rats to 5000 ppm carbon tetrachloride in the presence of 100, 21,12, or 6% oxygen resulted in SGPT activities of 489, 420, 3768, and 1788 I.U./l respectively. Exposure of rats to air and 0, 1250, 2500, 5000, or 7500 ppm carbon tetrachloride gave SGPT activities of 35, 32, 69, 420, and 2188 I.U./l respectively; when 12% oxygen was used, the corresponding SGPT activities were 32, 665, 691, 3768, and 4200 I.U./l respectively. Exposure of rats to hypoxia produced histopathologically detectable condensation of hepatic cytoplasmic material, and exposure to 5000 ppm carbon tetrachloride in the presence of air produced mild centrilobular necrosis, which was much more severe when rats were exposed to 5000 pm carbon tetrachloride in the presence of 12% oxygen. Hepatic microsomal conjugated diene concentrations were increased by hypoxia and by exposure to carbon tetrachloride, but no synergistic interaction was observed. Hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450 concentrations were decreased after exposure to carbon tetrachloride, but were the same after exposure to carbon tetrachloride and 12 or 21% oxygen. Hepatic carbon tetrachloride concentrations were the same in rats exposed to carbon tetrachloride in the presence of 12 or 21% oxygen; hepatic chloroform concentrations were higher in rats exposed to carbon tetrachloride in the presence of air than in the presence of 12% oxygen. The covalent binding of [¹⁴C]carbon tetrachloride metabolites to hepatic microsomal lipids and proteins was increased markedly by hypoxia as compared with normoxia. The covalent binding of metabolites of carbon tetrachloride to cellular macromolecules may play a role in the potentiation of carbon tetrachloride toxicity by hypoxia.     

Protection of chlordecone-potentiated carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity and lethality by partial hepatectomy

Chlordecone (CD) pretreatment is known to markedly potentiate CCl₄ hepatotoxicity. Previous studies have shown that prior exposure to CD obtunds the increased hepatocellular regeneration and repair observed in non-treated rats challenged with a single, low dose of CCl₄. These observations allowed us to hypothesize that suppression of hepatic regeneration and tissue repair by CD + CCl₄ combination treatment might be involved in this interaction. To test this hypothesis, CCl₄ hepatotoxicity was evaluated in actively regenerating livers using CD-treated (10 ppm in the diet for 15 days), surgically partially hepatectomized (PH) male Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats undergoing no surgical manipulation (CTRL) and sham operation (SH) were included as appropriate controls. Surgical manipulations were conducted on day 15 of the dietary protocol. Based on liver-to-body weight ratios (LW/BW), mitotic indices, hepatic cytochrome P-450 content, and hepatic glutathione (GSH and GSSG) levels, PH-induced hepatocellular regeneration was not affected by pretreatment with CD. Thus, the PH model was considered valid for assessing the effects of CD + CCl₄ combination treatment. CCl₄ (100 l/kg; i.p.) was administered 1, 2, 4 or 7 days after the surgical manipulations. Hepatotoxicity was assessed 24 h later by measuring LW/BW and serum enzymes (SGPT, SGOT and ICD) in all four groups. Hepatic histopathological, histomorphometric and lethal effects were assessed in animals receiving CCl₄ 1 or 7 days after the surgical manipulations. CCl₄-induced increases in LW/BW were observed in CD + PH rats receiving CCl₄ 4 or 7 days post-PH, but not in the 1 or 2 day post-PH groups in which the hepatocellular regeneration was maximal. CCl₄-induced serum enzyme elevations were significantly less in the CD + PH rats as compared to CD + SH. This decrease in the serum enzyme elevations was most prominent in the 1 day post-PH group, where the hepatocellular mitotic activity was most pronounced. CCl₄ lethality, assessed in the 1 day post-surgical manipulation group, was also decreased in the CD + PH rats in comparison to CD + SH rats. Such a protection was not observed in rats receiving CCl₄ 7 days post-PH. These data are consistent with and are supportive of the hypothesis that a suppression of otherwise normally stimulated hepatocellular regeneration following low-dose CCl₄ administration is involved in the marked amplification of CCl₄ toxicity by CD.Abbreviations CD chlordecone - GSH reduced glutathione - GSSG oxidized glutathione - PH partial hepatectomy - SH shamhepatectomy - CTRL control, not surgically manipulated - N normal diet - LW/BW liver weight-to-body weight ratio - SGPT serum glutamic; pyruvic transaminase - SGOT serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase - ICD isocitrate dehydrogenase These studies were made possible by a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency R-811072A preliminary report of these findings was presented at the 70th Annual Meetings of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology at St. Louis, MO (Fed Proc 45: 1051, 1986)A. N. Bell is a Predoctoral Toxicology Trainee and Robert A. Young is a Postdoctoral Trainee supported by Toxicology Training grant from National Institute of Environmental Health Science ES-07045     

Endotoxin pretreatment protects against the hepatotoxicity of acetaminophen and carbon tetrachloride: role of cytochrome P450 suppression

Bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) is known to potentiate the toxicity of many hepatotoxicants. However, exposure to a sublethal dose of LPS renders animals tolerant to a lethal dose of LPS, and protects against the toxicity of some chemicals. This study was designed to examine the effects of LPS pretreatment on acetaminophen- and carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4))-induced liver injury in LPS-sensitive C3H/OuJ and LPS-resistant C3H/HeJ mice. Pretreatment of male C3H/OuJ mice with a single injection of LPS (0. 1 mg/kg, ip, for 24 h) protected against the hepatotoxic effects of acetaminophen (400 mg/kg) and carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4), 30 mg/kg), as indicated by serum alanine aminotransferase activity. In contrast, pretreatment of C3H/HeJ mice with 0.1 or 10 mg/kg LPS afforded no protection against the hepatotoxic effects of acetaminophen and CCl(4). In an attempt to determine the mechanism of LPS-induced protection against acetaminophen- and CCl(4)-induced hepatotoxicity in C3H/OuJ mice, liver cytochrome P450 was determined 24 h after LPS injection. LPS treatment caused a 26% decrease in total P450 content in C3H/OuJ but not in C3H/HeJ mice. CYP3A-catalized testosterone 6 beta-, 2 beta-, and 15 beta-hydroxylation was decreased 40% by LPS only in C3H/OuJ mice. To determine whether the differences to LPS-response in the two stains of mice is mediated by a strain-related difference in the release of cytokines, mice were pretreated with interleukin-1 (IL-1 alpha, 5 x 10(5) U/mouse), and the hepatoprotection and hepatic P450 enzymes were examined. IL-1 alpha pretreatment equally protected against the hepatotoxicity of acetaminophen and CCl(4) in both strains, and suppressed the total microsomal P450 and P450 enzyme-catalyzed testosterone hydroxylation to a similar extent. In conclusion, LPS pretreatment suppressed hepatic cytochrome P450 enzymes and protected against the hepatotoxicity of acetaminophen and CCl(4) in LPS-sensitive C3H/OuJ mice, but not in LPS-refractory C3H/HeJ mice. This protective effect of LPS appears to be mediated through the release of cytokines such as IL-1 alpha, which in turn suppresses the cytochrome P450 responsible for the activation of acetaminophen and CCl(4) to reactive metabolites.     

Effect of cycloheximide and actinomycin D on carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity

The effect of the protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide, and the RNA synthesis inhibitor, actinomycin D, on CCl₄ hepatotoxicity was investigated in rats. CCl₄ administration produced elevations in both serum glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT) and hepatic triglyceride concentrations and a decrease in hepatic cytochrome P-450 content at 24 hr. Administration of cycloheximide 30 min prior to CCl₄ prevented the increase in both SGOT and hepatic triglycerides caused by CCl₄: the destruction of cytochrome P-450 was not prevented. Actinomycin D, administered 30 min before CCl₄, reduced the release of GOT but did not prevent either the destruction of cytochrome P-450 or the accumulation of hepatic triglycerides. These observations support the concept that protein synthesis plays an active role in the production of cellular damage produced by CCl₄.     

Diverse effects of antioxidants on carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity.

Several potent in vitro antioxidants like α-tocopherol acetate (α-T), N,N′ diphenyl p-phenylenediamine (DPPD), promethazine given at dosage regimes which prevented several manifestations of CCl₄ hepatotoxicity were not able to prevent the occurrence of CCl₄-induced lipid peroxidation or significantly modify the content in liver of administered CCl₄in vivo. DPPD but not α-T or promethazine was able to significantly decrease the extent of CCl₄ activation to ·CCl₃ free radicals as measured by the irreversible binding to microsomal lipids. These results weaken the value of previous findings with antioxidants which were used to support the lipid peroxidation theory of CCl₄ hepatotoxicity.     

The protective effect of tinoridine against carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity

The effect of tinoridine, an anti-inflammatory drug with a potent anti-peroxidative ability, on CCl₄ hepatotoxicity was investigated in rats. CCl₄ administration to rats produced not only marked increases in serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase but also decreases in liver microsomal cytochrome P-450 and glucose-6-phosphatase. These CCl₄-induced alterations in the enzyme activities were markedly decreased by pretreatment with tinoridine. The protective effect of tinoridine was also ascertained by histologic evaluation. α-Tocopherol also showed a similar protection, but anti-inflammatory drugs such as phenylbutazone, indomethacin, ibuprofen, and prednisolone failed to protect against the CCl₄-induced hepatotoxicity. These findings suggest that the anti-peroxidative action of tinoridine contributes to the protective effect against CCl₄ hepatotoxicity.