ALCOHOL LOW-DOSE CARBON TETRACHLORIDE-INDUCED CIRRHOSIS IN RATS USINGDIFFERENT METHODS OF ALCOHOL FEEDING

Cirrhosis may be reliably produced in rats by exposing them to low lev els of carbon tetrachloride vapor while feeding alcohol in the Lieber- DeCarli liquid diet. This study aimed to determine whether alternative cheaper and more convenient ways of feeding alcohol would also allow the production of cirrhosis. Animals were fed alcohol in the Lieber-De Carli diet, in a gel diet, or by addition of alcohol + sucrose to thei r drinking water, and were exposed to carbon tetrachloride vapor 6 hr/ night, 5 nights/week. After 12 weeks of treatment, all animals (4 of 4 ) receiving alcohol in the Lieber-DeCarli diet, but only two in each o f the gel and drinking water groups, were cirrhotic. The variable resu lts with the gel diet may be due to loss of alcohol by evaporation fro m the gel. Alcohol intake in the group receiving alcohol in drinking w ater was greater than in those receiving Lieber-DeCarli diet. We sugge st that the increased carbohydrate intake due to addition of sucrose t o the water exerted a protective effect on the liver.