THE EFFECT OF CARBON TETRACHLORIDE ON HEPATIC LIPID METABOLISM

The effect of the administration of varying doses of CCl4upon the level of hepatic lipid fractions was investigated. The hepatic cholesterol esters are greatest at low doses of CCl4, while the hepatic triglycerides and serum transaminase levels continue to rise as increasing amounts of CCl4are administered. The amount of liver triglycerides is significantly increased within 2 hours after CCl4administration, while the hepatic cholesterol ester level and serum transaminase activity are not elevated until 6 hours. An increase in the rate of incorporation of intravenously administered acetate-1-C14into hepatic triglycerides occurred within 3 hours after CCl4treatment, but no increase was noted in cholesterol and cholesterol ester radioactivity until an additional 3 hours had elapsed.The treatment of CCl4-intoxicated rats with phenoxybenzamine, although decreasing necrosis, does not prevent the accumulation of hepatic lipids.Slices of liver from CCl4-intoxicated animals incorporate acetate-1-C14more rapidly into cholesterol esters and less rapidly into cholesterol and triglycerides than liver slices from control animals. The presence of CCl4in the atmosphere above the liver slices from untreated animals induced an increase in acetate-1-C14incorporation into both cholesterol esters and free fatty acids and a decrease in incorporation into cholesterol. The incorporation of radioactivity into triglycerides was not affected.