The effect of a nutritional model of chronic liver injury on the hepatic glucuronidation of morphine in rats

Abstract

Abstract— The effect of a choline‐deficient diet on the hepatic glucuronidation of morphine was investigated using a rat perfused liver system. Rats fed a choline‐deficient diet developed a fatty liver with minimal necrosis. Despite the morphological changes, neither hepatic extraction ratio (0·51 ± 0·02 incontrol; 0·45 ± 0·04 in the choline‐deficient rats) nor intrinsic clearance (0·85 ± 0·05 in control; 0·77 ± 0·09 in choline‐deficient rats) were affected by this injury model. This finding suggests that glucuronidation is relatively resistant to this chronic liver injury. 1993 Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain