Prompt elevation of rat serum alpha-fetoprotein by acute liver injury following a single injection of ethionine.

The mechanism of increased alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) production following a single injection of ethionine was investigated by using rats aged 5 weeks at the time of killing. Marked elevations of serum AFP concentrations occurred within 4 days in both male and female rats after administration of DL-ethionine or L-ethionine, although the increased levels of serum AFP and liver triglyceride in the adults were less marked in the male than in the female. No apparent necrosis of liver cells was observed in ethionine-treated rats. Frequent administrations of adenosine triphosphate after a single dose of ethionine prevented the increases in liver triglyceride and serum AFP levels. The increased concentrations of serum AFP, reaching a maximum level within 4 days, occurred before a slight increase in incorporation of 3H-thymidine into liver DNA. The serum AFP from ethionine-treated rats was immunologically and electrophoretically indistinguishable from that of fetal, carbontetrachloride-treated or hepatoma-bearing rats. These observations suggest that the increased production of AFP in ethionine-treated rats is closely associated with hepatic injury and is not the consequence of liver cell regeneration.