D-Galactosamine hepatotoxicity is associated with endotoxin sensitivity and mediated by lymphoreticular cells in mice.

Two strains of mice (C57BL/10ScN and C3H/HeJ) that carry the same mutant lipopolysaccharide gene (Lpsd) which makes them resistant to the toxic effects of endotoxin (LPS) are also partially resistant to the hepatotoxic effects of D-galactosamine. As measured by serum alanine aminotransferase, the degree of liver injury induced by D-galactosamine in the LPS-resistant strains is only 10%-30% that of closely related strains of LPS-sensitive mice. Similarly, histopathologic changes are less pronounced in the endotoxin-resistant strains than in LPS-susceptible mice. By transferring spleen cells from LPS-susceptible strains to lethally irradiated, LPS-resistant mice, we established that susceptibility to D-galactosamine is mediated by lymphoreticular cells. Radiation-resistant spleen cells transferred D-galactosamine sensitivity, suggesting a role for macrophages. We did not exclude the possibility that lymphocytes can also transfer the response to D-galactosamine. These results establish that in mice, D-galactosamine sensitivity is associated with endotoxin sensitivity and that the former is mediated by lymphoreticular cells, not by hepatocytes.