A comparison between the morphologic changes in the livers of hamsters and rats after galactosamine treatment and their correlation with altered serum transaminase levels.

Galactosamine caused changes in the livers of rats that were similar to those seen in human viral hepatitis. In hamsters the changes were characteristic of a typical toxic hepatitis. The response by the liver to galactosamine was very variable in both the rat and the hamster and there was a degree of correlation between the raised transaminase levels and the liver cell damage.