Preservation of glucuronidation in carbon tetrachloride-induced acute liver injury in the rat.

Abstract

The influence of carbon tetrachloride on several routes of drug metabolism has been investigated in the rat in vivo, in isolated perfused livers, and in hepatic microsomal preparations to evaluate the hypothesis that hepatic glucuronyl transferase activity is preserved when mixed-function oxidase activity is impaired by this hepatotoxin. Impaired oxidative metabolism after acute administration of carbon tetrachloride was confirmed in vivo by a 65 per cent reduction in the rate of elimination of 14CO2 in breath after [14C]aminopyrine administration and a 58 per cent reduction in the clearance of lorazepam in the whole animal. In the isolated perfused livers of control rats, glucuronide metabo..