Phalloidin uptake by the liver of cholestatic rats in vivo, in isolated perfused liver and isolated hepatocytes.

Rats made cholestatic by bile duct ligation survive phalloidin poisoning. This protection against phalloidin poisoning is correlated with the rate of the toxin uptake by the liver. [3H]demethylphalloin was used as a tracer for uptake studies. This is justified because there is no significant difference in the rate of uptake of the phallotoxins used. Within 4 h after bile duct ligation phalloidin uptake is reduced to about 25% and after 24 h to about 15% of controls. Isolated perfused livers and isolated hepatocytes from cholestatic rats bind less phalloidin than normal controls. Besides morphological changes serum factors may account for the decreased rate of phallotoxin uptake in cholestatic cells.