Effect of an acute dose of ethanol on the hepatotoxicity due to carbon tetrachloride.

To study the effect of an acute dose of alcohol on the hepatotoxicity due to CCl4, rats received alcohol (4 g/kg BW) and/or CCl4 (1.5 ml/kg BW) by concomitant intragastric intubation. Compared to animals receiving CCl4 alone, the simultaneous application of CCl4 and alcohol resulted 12 h after administration in significantly lower serum activities of glutamate oxalacetate transaminase (1005 +/- 70 vs 739 +/- 47; p less than 0.01) and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (746 +/- 10 vs 330 +/- 41; p less than 0.01), whereas 36 h after administration, an increase of serum enzyme activities was observed. No significant differences could be demonstrated 24 h after application. By histological assessment, liver damage was also much less pronounced 12 h after combined administration of CCl4 and ethanol, compared to CCl4 alone, whereas the reversed constellation could be demonstrated 36 h after administration. These results therefore show that in the early phase of CCl4 intoxication an acute dose of alcohol may partially protect from CCl4 hepatotoxicity, whereas potentiation was observed under these experimental conditions in the late phase of CCl4 intoxication.