Assessment of the carbon tetrachloride-induced cirrhosis model for studies of nitrogen metabolism in chronic liver disease.

We evaluated the rat cirrhosis model obtained by repeated intraperitoneal administration of CCl4 (group C) with regard to biological and nutritional conditions in comparison to ad libitum (group AL) and pair-fed control rats. Cirrhotic rats were divided into two groups according to their clinical condition: group C1 (n = 4) represented those in good physical condition and group C2 those (n = 10) in poor physical condition. Autopsy indicated that rats in group C2 suffered from severe malnutrition as judged by body weight, carcass weight and the carcass/body weight ratio. However, all 14 treated rats presented the same micronodular cirrhosis and the same alterations in liver function, except for alkaline phosphatase activity (group C1: 110 +/- 63 IU/l, group C2: 259 +/- 110 IU/l; p < 0.05). In the cirrhosis groups, plasma levels of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) and the BCAA/aromatic amino acid (AAA) ratio were significantly reduced, but values in groups C1 and C2 were not significantly different (BCAA/AAA: 1.9 +/- 0.9 in group C1, 1.5 +/- 0.8 in group C2, 2.8 +/- 0.3 in group AL; C1 and C2, vs. AL: p < 0.05). These alterations were similar to those observed in human cirrhosis and were not solely the result of reduced food intake, as indicated by the lack of difference between pair-fed and ad libitum-fed control rats.