Influence of chronic liver damage on regeneration of the organ in rats.

Abstract

To investigate the influence of chronic hepatic damage on liver regeneration, a 70% hepatectomy was carried out in male BDE rats in which chronic hepatic damage had been induced by i.m. injection of 0.1 ml CCl4/100 g b. w. twice a week for 4 weeks. After resection, we examined adenine nucleotide concentration in the remaining liver tissues, also body weight and wet and dry weight of the liver. The total adenine nucleotide concentration fell 6 h after resection from 2.89 +/- 0.22 mumol/g to 2.03 +/- 0.15 mumol/g and then recovered on the 3rd postoperative day. However, control animals showed lowest values 3 h after resection, and had already begun to recover at 6 h. Energy charges fell 3 h after liver both groups to the lowest values, but recovery was slower in the animals with chronic liver damage. These observations suggest that in animals with hepatic damage regeneration is delayed in the initial post-resection period. However, 5 days after resection the wet and dry weights of the liver were completely normalized and there was no difference between the two groups, i.e., 5 days after 70% liver resection we could not find any delayed regeneration tendency in animals with chronic liver damage.