Iodipamide hepatotoxicity in the rat.

Iodipamide meglumine (Cholografin) has been implicated in several cases of liver injury in patients. The present study was designed to assess the hepatotoxic potential of this drug in rats. Iodipamide administered intraperitoneally or intravenously caused a characteristic type of necrosis which began in the midzonal area and spread to the centrilobular region. Only rats weighing 400 g or more developed necrosis when the dose administered was 2 mmol/kg. Rats weighing 200 g failed to develop liver necrosis even when given 3 mmol/kg. Selenium deficiency and pretreatment with 3-methylcholanthrene protected against liver necrosis due to iodipamide. Phenobarbital pretreatment provided little or no protection. Kidney tubular necrosis was also observed but occurred in young rats and in selenium-deficient rats which developed no liver necrosis. These results indicate that iodipamide is a hepatotoxin in rats. There are a number of factors, age being the most striking, that modify its hepatotoxicity.