Formylcolchicine bound to lactosaminated serum albumin is a more active antifibrotic agent than free colchicine.
Liver fibrosis was induced by chronically (7 weeks) administering CCl4 to rats. Animals were divided into four groups: (a) controls, (b) treated with CCl4 alone, (c) treated with CCl4 and colchicine and (d) treated with CCl4 and formyl-colchicine bound to lactosaminated serum albumin (FC-LASA). Liver dysfunction was monitored by biochemical tests (alkaline phosphatase [ALP], gamma-glutamyltransferase [gamma GT], aspartate and alanine transaminases [AST and ALT], albumin and total bilirubin). Fibrosis was evaluated by determining hydroxyproline and by microscopic examination. The exposure to CCl4 produced major alterations of liver structure and collagen deposition. These effects were partially counteracted by colchicine and to a greater extent by FC-LASA. Morphological findings paralleled biochemical data. The information reported here indicates that colchicine has an antifibrotic activity on the liver of intoxicated rats and that FC-LASA is more active than colchicine itself as an antifibrotic agent.
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Perugia, Italy.
C A
CA
Palmerini
C
C
Saccardi
A
A
Floridi
G
G
Arienti
D000606:Amino Sugars / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride / Q000633:toxicity; D003078:Colchicine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008106:Liver Cirrhosis, Experimental / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D011485:Protein Binding; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism*
D000606:Amino Sugars; D012709:Serum Albumin; C032233:lactosamine; C096138:4-formylcolchicine; D002251:Carbon Tetrachloride; D003078:Colchicine