Incidence of experimental cirrhosis on hepatic disposition of [3H] levamisole in rats.

Levamisole [phenyl-2 3H] was injected intravenously (4.7 mg kg-1) into anaesthetized controls and rats in which cirrhosis had been induced by a combination of carbon tetrachloride and phenobarbitone. The biliary excretion (6 h) of the parent drug and its metabolites formed a significant part of the administered dose. Although bile flow did not vary, biliary excretion of levamisole and metabolites were respectively increased and decreased in cirrhotic compared with control animals. These differences could be the result of cirrhosis-induced decrease in the hepatic biotransformation of levamisole and also to limited active carrier transport for the output of metabolites into bile canaliculi.