Hepatotoxicity of carbon tetrachloride after chronic ethanol consumption.

Hepatotoxicity of carbon tetrachloride after chronic ethanol consumption was examined in rats fed a standard pellet diet and a 5 or 20% ethanol solution as a sole source of fluid for 1-100 weeks. Carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity in rats fed 5 and 20% ethanol (4.0 and 8.8 g of ethanol/kg body weight, respectively) for 1-100 weeks was markedly greater than that in control rats given water instead of ethanol, and the hepatotoxicity in rats fed 20% ethanol was more severe as compared with that in rats fed 5% ethanol at any time during a period of 100 weeks. The degree of the enhanced hepatotoxicity in rats fed both 5 and 20% ethanol did not change significantly during a period of 100 weeks. Moreover, the enhanced hepatotoxicity in the rats fed both 5 and 20% ethanol for 1-100 weeks is of the same degree as that in the rats that received 4.0 and 8.8 g of ethanol/kg body weight as a single dose, respectively. These experimental findings suggest that the effect of ethanol on the carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity is dependent on the daily amount of alcohol intake and is not affected by the duration of alcohol consumption.