INFLUENCE OF DIETARY NUCLEOTIDES ON LIVER STRUCTURAL RECOVERY AND HEPATOCYTE BINUCLEARITY IN CIRRHOSIS INDUCED BY THIOACETAMIDE

Intake of thioacetamide in drinking water causes liver cirrhosis in ra ts, which exhibit many changes similar to human disease. Nucleotides p lay an important part in major cellular functions, and recent studies suggest that dietary nucleotides may be considered 'semi-essential' nu trients in situations when an inadequate dietary supply may affect the growth of tissues with a rapid turnover rate. The aim of this study w as to assess the effect of dietary nucleotides on lesions in thioaceta mide-cirrhotic rats, and to calculate the proportion of mono and binuc leated hepatocytes in different experimental groups. Rats were given c irrhosis by oral intake of thioacetamide in the drinking water (300 mg /l) for four months. One group was treated with a standard nucleotide free diet, and another group was treated with the same diet supplement ed with 250 mg of nucleotides per 100 g of diet for one and two weeks. A striking reduction (mean (SEM)) in the proportion of binucleated ce lls was seen in thioacetamide-cirrhotic rats (4.8 (1.3) v 21.4 (1.0)), showing a change in the mitotic mechanism in focal lesions. Cirrhotic rats that consumed a semipurified diet supplemented with nucleotides during two weeks showed considerable histological regeneration of the injured liver. These animals had significantly higher proportion of bi nucleated cells than did animals at the beginning of the recovery peri od (8.2 (1.2) v 4.8 (1.3)). In the second week of recovery, both types of diet (F=5.54, p<0.05) and the previous administration of thioaceta mide (F=142.82, p<0.001) had significant effects on the percentage of binucleated hepatocytes.