Peliosis hepatis. Its relationship to chronic alcoholism, aflatoxin B1, and carcinogenesis in male Holtzman rats.

Peliosis hepatis, a condition characterized by blood-filled cystic spaces within the hepatic parenchyma, was observed in 5 of 26 male Holtzman rats after chronic treatment with ethanol (mean consumption 5 g/kg/day) and aflatoxin B1 (2 mg intraperitoneally in divided doses). Matched controls and aflatoxin-treated and ethanol-treated animals failed to exhibit these changes. Most of the peliotic lesions developed in the first two months of treatment. All were associated with death of the animal. No hepatocellular carinomas developed in any of the animals, even after one year of observation.