title: Effect of vitamin A on hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) toxicity in the rat.
abstract: 1. Technical hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) depleted hepatic stores of vitamin A in male albino rats to cause secondary vitamin A deficiency. 2. Toxicity of HCH in rats is augmented by dietary vitamin A-deficiency as evidenced by growth retardation, organ hypertrophies and alterations in the serum and liver levels of the marker enzymes of toxicity. 3. Supplementation of dietary vitamin A to the rats either in adequate (2000 IU/kg diet) or in an excess but not hypervitaminotic level (10(5) IU/kg diet) resulted in significant protection against the toxicity of HCH. 4. The activities of the hepatic xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes were generally low (with the exception of glutathione S-transferase) in the vitamin A-deficient rats compared to those of the vitamin A supplemented diet groups. 5. The results indicated that dietary vitamin A influences the response of male albino rats to HCH toxicity possibly by modulating the activities of hepatic xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D001556:Hexachlorocyclohexane / Q000633:toxicity*; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008297:Male; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases / Q000378:metabolism; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015262:Xenobiotics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015262:Xenobiotics; D014801:Vitamin A; D001556:Hexachlorocyclohexane; D006899:Mixed Function Oxygenases