Protective effects of cholestyramine on liver cirrhosis induced by carbon tetrachloride in the rat.

The influence of cholestyramine and chenodeoxycholic acid on the induction of liver cirrhosis by carbon tetrachloride was investigated in the Wistar rat. The addition of 1.3% cholestyramine to the diet of the experimental animals inhibited to a large extent the induction of cirrhosis. While all the animals subjected to carbon tetrachloride exposure plus basal diet and those to carbon tetrachloride intoxication plus chenodeoxycholic acid diet developed cirrhosis, the morphological manifestation of cirrhosis occurred in the livers of only two out of 18 rats under carbon tetrachloride treatment plus cholestyramine diet. The administration of cholestryamine induces reactions which correspond to the physiological protective mechanisms of the liver. These are the bile acid binding, bacteriostatic, and microsomal enzymatic stimulating properties of cholestyramine.