Diagnostic Evaluation of Carbon Tetrachloride-induced Rat Hepatic Cirrhosis Model

• Published in: Anticancer research 2005-03, Vol.25 (2A), p.1029-1038
• Main Authors: LEE, Gi-Ppeum, JEONG, Won-Il, JEONG, Da-Hee, DO, Sun-Hee, KIM, Tae-Hwan, JEONG, Kyu-Shik
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Carbon Tetrachloride - toxicity; Disease Models, Animal; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; Immunohistochemistry; Liver Cirrhosis - diagnosis; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental - chemically induced; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental - diagnosis; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental - diagnostic imaging; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental - pathology; Liver. Biliary tract. Portal circulation. Exocrine pancreas; Male; Medical sciences; Other diseases. Semiology; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Tumors; Ultrasonography
• ISSN: 0250-7005; 1791-7530

Background: To find a non-invasive method of diagnosing hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis, we evaluated the relationship of the hepatic cirrhosis grade between histopathology and mean grey level (MGL) in B-mode ultrasonography in CCl 4 -induced liver cirrhosis. Materials and Methods: Three groups of rats were treated with olive oil, CCl 4 , and CCl 4 + silymarin. Rats were sacrificed at weeks 4, 8 and 12, after B-mode ultrasonography examination, and then analyzed histopathologically for fatty change and fibrosis. Results: On the grade of fibrosis, the CCl 4 group showed higher value at 8 and 12 weeks than the silymarin group. However, the fatty change was enhanced in the silymarin group, compared with the CCl 4 group. The B-mode histogram values were the highest in the silymarin group, but the collagen rate was highest in the CCl 4 -treated group, at week 12. These results suggest that the B-mode histogram can be more affected by infiltration of lipid than by intact accumulation of collagen fibers. Conclusion: In the histogram of 8 and 12 weeks, there were significant differences between the CCl 4 -treated group and silymarin group in mean grey levels of B-mode ultrasonography. The histogram of B-mode mean grey level has a close correlation with fatty change and is useful for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis by histopathological analysis.