[Histopathological evaluation of protective effect of L-cysteine in ethanol-induced liver damage in rats].

Rats fed standard diet were intoxicated during 4 weeks with ethanol at the dose of 0.6 g/100 g of the body weight. This poisoning causes vacuolar degeneration, disappearance of glycogen granules, steatosis of hepatocytes and focal necrosis changes in the liver. The intake of food with cysteine at the dose of 0.012 and 0.024 g/100 g/24 hrs markedly prevents histopathological changes in the liver of rats intoxicated with ethanol. Larger amounts of cysteine (0.044 g/100 g/24 hrs) intensify histopathological changes caused by ethanol in the liver of rats.