Effect of heptachlor on the liver of starved rabbits
Shakoori, A.R.; Haq, R.
Folia Biologica 35(1-2): 23-31
1987
ISSN/ISBN: 0015-5497 PMID: 3609389 Document Number: 298150
A group of 12 rabbits were starved for 7 days. Six of them were then fed with heptachlor treated fodder for 7 days while the other obtained normal fodder. Another group of 6 rabbits were fed with heptachlor treated fodder for two weeks, a control group of 6 being simultaneously fed with normal fodder. Re-feeding of starved rabbits with normal fodder restored or tended to restore normal proportions of most of the hepatic biochemical components. Re-feeding with heptachlor treated fodder, however, induced further aggravation of the biochemical lesions produced by starvation: after normal re-feeding the GPT activity was by 12% lower than that in control animals, and by 41% after heptachlor re-feeding. Likewise, the LDH activity which was restored to normal after re-feeding, after heptachlor treatment was raised by 26%. Other biochemical components, i.e. bilirubin, cholesterol, lipids and total protein contents were also increased after heptachlor treatment, while the alkaline phosphatase activity and urea and glucose contents remained unchanged. The DNA content remained unaltered but the amount of the hepatic RNA increased by 66%. Heptachlor also induced hypertrophy of the hepatocytes and their nucleoli. A two weeks' heptachlor treatment without prior starvation did not increase the RNA contents, but elevated the DNA amount, by 71%. The hepatic cells, their nuclei and nucleoli in such animals decreased in size, while the number of nuclei per cell and the number of nucleoli per nucleus increased.