Combined action of hepatotoxic substances and increased environmental temperature on the liver of rats.

Male albino rats were orally treated in a single dose with 40 mg allyl alcohol/kg or 50 mg 4,4'-methylenedianilline/kg, or 100 mg 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane/kg, or 400 mg carbon tetrachloride/kg, or 800 mg chloroforme/kg, immediately after-wards exposed to increased temperature (35 degrees C, 50% RH, 4 h), and examined 20--22 hours later. Under these conditions, only carbon tetrachloride led to a more intensified changes manifesting themselves in changes of the serum enzymes LAP, ALAT, and GLDH, as well as in liver histology. The liver lesions, caused by the substances mentioned, reacted to an additional thermal strain in a comparable manner as the LD50-values determined under identical exposure conditions. The temperature-dependent enhancement of the carbon tetrachloride hepatotoxicity is ascribed to an intensification of liver peroxidation processes due to increased core temperature.