Effect of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate on rat liver injured by chronic carbon tetrachloride treatment.

The effect of Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEPH), a widely used plasticizer, was studied using histopathological and biochemical parameters on rat liver injured by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). The mild centrilobular necrosis observed with CCl4 (7.7 mmol/kg subcutaneously and biweekly up to 38 days) and mild congestion and bile duct proliferation produced by DEHP (2.5 mmol/kg intraperitoneally daily for ten days after the day 28 of experiment) were modified into extensive necrosis of the parenchymal cells when the animals received both chemicals. Groups of hepatocytes mostly at the periphery of the lobules also showed coagulative necrosis and some central and portal veins were completely occluded. Alterations in the activity of serum and liver enzymes of the animals receiving both chemicals were not significantly different from those treated with CCl4 alone, except in case of glucose-6-phosphatase (G-6Pase) and SGPT. The characteristic decrease of G-6-Pase and increase of SGPT was less marked. Although the exact mechanism of the chemical interaction between CCl4 and DEHP is not known, the results indicate their combined toxic potentiality.