Temporal aspects of carbon tetrachloride-induced alteration of sulfobromophthalein excretion and metabolism

Abstract

Impairment of hepatic excretory function and hepatic conjugation of sulfobromophthalein (BSP) conjugation both contribute to BSP plasma retention in rats 24 hr after oral administration of carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4). The present study attempts to define the role of each of these parameters on the onset of plasma BSP retention. Impaired BSP excretion, bile flow rate, relative hepatic storage, and plasma BSP retention were observed as early as 3 hr after CCl 4 administration. However, impaired BSP conjugation was not unequivocally demonstrated until 12 hr after CCl 4. In experiments where BSP was administered by slow iv infusion (2.5 mg/min/kg), increases in the ratio of biliary unconjugated BSP to conjugated BSP were suggestive of impaired conjugation during the early stages of intoxication, although such changes were not marked when BSP was rapidly injected (60 mg/kg, iv). It is concluded that impaired hepatic excretory function is the prime factor involved in the onset of BSP retention after CCl 4.