Quantitative changes of some rat proteins by short and long time carbon tetrachloride administration.

In the last few years, the immunological quantitation of human plasma proteins has proved a useful diagnostic routine method and is used in many laboratories. It is conceivable that complex estimations of serum proteins provide valuable and addition information on substance activities also in toxicological animal experiments. To test the validity of this concept, we have estimated the serum concentration of four proteins (IgG, transferrin, alpha2-acute phase protein = alpha2-AP, very low density lipoprotein = VLDL) in carbon tetrachloride-treated rats. The serum concentrations of the examined proteins are changed significantly within the first 3 d after onset of treatment. IgG and transferrin are elevated during the whole period of treatment, VLDL falls after only 1 d of treatment, and alpha2-AP shows a biphasic course. Our results are comparable with the findings described for human hepatitides. Furthermore, age-dependent and chrono-biological influences were observed.