The sensitivity of function tests in detecting liver damage in the rat

Abstract

The sensitivity of a group of tests in detecting the effects of liver damage was investigated in groups of rats treated with carbon tetrachloride or sodium selenate for 5 months. The tests included determinations for the activity of plasma glucose-6-phosphatase, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, cholinesterase, bilirubin concentration, protein fractions, colloidal red flocculation, zinc sulfate turbidity, urine coproporphyrin and urobilinogen determination, the sulfobromophthalein (BSP) and hippuric acid tests, relative liver weight and gross and histopathologic examination of the liver. The consequence of carbon tetrachloride administration differed from the effects of sodium selenate in the morphological form of liver injury and in the type of functional impairment (as shown by the BSP and hippuric acid tests). The hippuric acid test, the electrophoretic pattern of plasma proteins, and the BSP test were the most effective tests in revealing long-term impairment of liver function. Histopathologic evaluation and the determination of plasma glutamic-pyruvic transaminase were sensitive parameters in detecting structural abnormality. However, function tests alone did not give reliable information about structural changes in the liver; both types of tests are necessary for a satisfactory assessment of hepatic integrity. Restriction of food intake had no effect on the results of any of these tests.