EARLY HISTOLOGICAL AND FUNCTIONAL ALTERATIONS OF ETHIONINE LIVER CARCINOGENESIS IN RATS FED A CHOLINE-DEFICIENT DIET

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  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 38  (4) , 1092-1098
Abstract
The effects of feeding a choline-deficient (CD) or a choline-supplemented diet on the early stages of DL-ethionine carcinogenesis in rat liver were investigated. Low levels of DL-ethionine (0.05 and 0.10%) when fed with a CD diet induced within 4 wk a massive proliferation of oval cells without significant cell necrosis or inflammatory cell infiltrates. The same levels of ethionine when fed with a choline-supplemented diet caused no significant histological alteration of the liver. In rats fed CD plus ethionine diets concomitant with the proliferation of oval cells, there was a marked elevation in the content of .alpha.1-fetoprotein in liver and plasma. After specific immunofluorescence staining, oval cells stained intensely for albumin and .alpha.1-fetoprotein. Hepatocytes stained only for albumin, and bile duct cells stained for neither albumin nor .alpha.1-fetoprotein. These results indicate that a CD diet alters the response of rat liver to carcinogenetic doses of ethionine. Ethionine hepatocarcinogenesis in rats fed a CD diet may be a useful model for the exploration of the mechanism(s) whereby a dietary factor influences hepatocarcinogenesis.