Intermittent Alcoholic Binge Induced Liver Injury in Wistar Albino Rats: De Ritis ratio and Histological Correlates

Abstract

The pattern, frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption are important in the development of alcoholic liver disease. It has been shown epidemiologically that binge drinking augments liver injury. This study was undertaken to examine the sequential changes in serum markers of liver function and their relationship to quantifiable histological features following intermittent binge administration of ethanol to Wistar albino rats. Groups of male and female rats were given 30% (w/v) ethanol at a dose of 5g/kg on alternate days for six weeks. The serum activity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were measured as indicators of liver function. Liver biopsy specimens were collected and subjected to histological analysis. In the ethanol administered groups, there was no significant gender difference in the enzymes assay value (P- value, 0.65; ?, 0.01) and grades of histological features (P- value, 0.11; ?, 0.01). There was 175% increase in AST/ALT ratio from 1.2 to 3.3. The severity of histopathological features (steatosis, necrosis and lobular inflammation) observed increased (216%) from a score of 3 to 9.5. The AST/ALT ratio positively correlated moderately strongly with lobular inflammatory foci (Pearson coefficient, r = 0.661). A strong correlation is obtained when AST/ALT ratio multiplied by the values of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is plotted against the hepatocyte injury severity scores giving a Pearson’s correlation coefficient of 0.74 and coefficient of determination of 0.55. Intermittent binge administration of ethanol has profound damaging effects on the liver cells probably resulting from acute induction of inflammation. Combination of the serum markers of liver function significantly correlate with histological changes.

Keywords: liver; alcohol; De Ritis ratio