heparitin-sulfate and Carbon-Tetrachloride-Poisoning

We have investigated the effects of nontoxic doses of vitamin A on the hepatic contents of collagen and sulfated glycosaminoglycans (SGAGs) in rats chronically treated with CCl4. When the animals were treated with this retinoid before the intoxication with CCl4, liver collagen level was significantly reduced as compared with that in rats that received only CCl4 (3.31 +/- 0.40 vs 5.00 +/- 0.61 mg/gm wet liver, mean +/- SD, respectively), although no significant differences were found for the relative proportion of type III collagen related to type I collagen. The absolute increment in the total amount of liver SGAG in the vitamin A--pretreated group was followed by a more important increase in the concentration of dermatan sulfate as compared with the CCl4 group (dermatan sulfate-to-heparan sulfate ratio: 1.15 for the CCl4 group vs 1.70 for the vitamin A--pretreated group). A significant proportion of the dermatan sulfate from this last group was of higher molecular weight when compared with the dermatan sulfate found in the liver of rats that received only CCl4. Our results indicate that the pretreatment with vitamin A modifies hepatic collagen and SGAG deposition and can inhibit or delay the development of liver cirrhosis in rats chronically treated with CCl4. We speculate that this effect could be due to the changes in the fat-storing (Ito) cells phenotype induced by vitamin A.

Topics: Animals; Carbon Tetrachloride Poisoning; Collagen; Dermatan Sulfate; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Glycosaminoglycans; Heparitin Sulfate; Liver; Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental; Male; Molecular Weight; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Vitamin A

The relationship between 67Ga uptake and iron metabolism was investigated in rat tissues. 67Ga and 59Fe(II) both accumulated in the mitochondrial-lysosomal fraction after being injected. Moreover, they both showed especially high affinity for heparan sulfate (HS) among various acid mucopolysaccharides (AMPS). When iron (ferrous citrate) was injected IV before, simultaneously with, and after 67Ga citrate IV injection, 67Ga uptake was significantly inhibited in normal rat liver in all cases. Elevated 67Ga uptake in the liver of CCl4-treated rats was also lowered to the control level by iron pretreatment. High zinc intake remarkably elevated the 67Ga uptake in rat liver. The contents of iron in the liver and liver AMPS of 0.75% zinc-fed rats were lowered in comparison with those in controls. Thus, the elevation of 67Ga uptake in the liver of zinc-fed rats might be due to the decrease of iron bound to HS.

Topics: Animals; Carbon Tetrachloride Poisoning; Citric Acid; Ferrous Compounds; Gallium Radioisotopes; Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase; Glycosaminoglycans; Heparitin Sulfate; Iron; Iron Radioisotopes; Liver; Rats; Uronic Acids; Zinc

Topics: 2-Acetylaminofluorene; Animals; Carbon Tetrachloride Poisoning; Cations; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury; Gallium Radioisotopes; Glycosaminoglycans; Heparitin Sulfate; Liver; Male; Rats; Tissue Distribution

The glycosaminoglycan of rat liver can be separated into five distinct fractions; a hyaluronic acid fraction, a heparan sulfate fraction with a molar ratio of sulfate to hexosamine (S/HexN) around 0.7, a heparan sulfate fraction with a S/HexN ratio around 1.4, a dermatan sulfate fraction with a S/HexN ratio near unity, and a dermatan sulfate fraction with a S/HexN ratio around 1.3. Enzymatic analysis of the two dermatan sulfate fractions indicates that they differ significantly in that the high sulfated fraction contains relatively more N-acetylgalactosamine 4,6-bissulfate units (about 26% of the total hexosamine). In experimental injury produced by carbon tetrachloride, the low sulfated fraction increases as much as 9-fold on a dry weight basis, bearing no linear relationship to the amount of the high sulfated fraction which increases only 2-fold. A significant shift is also observed in the levels of the two heparan sulfate fractions. In this case, however, the high sulfated fraction shows a much more pronounced increase than does the low sulfated fraction. On the basis of these observations, it is suggested that for each of the dermatan sulfate and heparan sulfate classes there are at least two pools, distinguished by sulfation degree and perhaps by turnover rate and physiological function.

Topics: Animals; Carbon Tetrachloride Poisoning; Chondroitin; Chondroitinases and Chondroitin Lyases; Chromatography, DEAE-Cellulose; Chromatography, Paper; Dermatan Sulfate; Electrophoresis, Cellulose Acetate; Glycosaminoglycans; Heparitin Sulfate; Liver; Male; Polysaccharides; Rats