Alizarin red S-stained bone and cartilage in calcium deficiency provoked by experimental liver injury in rats.

Experimental liver injury with different stages was provoked in rats with daily injected doses of thioacetamide (ThAA). The dose recommended for both male and female rats was 50 mg/kg body weight. The liver damages caused were acute, subacute, cirrhotic and necrotic, with a traumatization period of 2, 7, 14 and 21 days. The loss of body weight under traumatization, indicating osteopenia, was in the case of female rats during the first experimental week markedly accelerated, and in the two subsequent weeks apparently inhibited when compared to male rats. The loss of body weight of male rats revealed a progressive fall. Vital staining was made giving intraperitoneally 200 mg/kg body weight of alizarin red S (ARS). The staining intensity was improved in the acute stage for both calvaria and tibia and in the necrotic stage for tibia only. It was impaired in the subacute stage for calvaria and tibia and in the necrotic stage for calvaria only. Prolonged traumatization with ThAA causes pathological defects in the liver and kidneys. Furthermore, the epiphyseal cartilage of necrotic-stage rats was bright red without any ARS staining.