Evaluation of the protective effect of methotrexate on OK432-induced liver injury in a rat model.
Cholangitis-induced liver damage was created in rats by intraductal injection of OK432, a lyophilized incubation mixture of group A Streptococcus pyogenes of human origin. Oral, low-dose methotrexate (MTX) was given to one group to study its protective effect on liver injury. The liver histology was studied and semiquantitatively graded. The OK432-induced changes were compared with and without MTX therapy. The results revealed statistically significant higher grades of portal inflammation and sinusoidal infiltration in rats treated with OK432 compared to saline-treated controls. There was significant improvement in liver changes in the group treated with MTX compared to the untreated group. It could be concluded that oral, low-dose, pulsed MTX therapy caused significant improvement in cholangitis-induced liver damage in rats.
Alladi
Anand
A
Department of Paediatric Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Gupta
Devendra Kumar
DK
Gupta
Siddarth Dutta
SD
D000818:Animals; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002761:Cholangitis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010844:Picibanil; D051381:Rats; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D010844:Picibanil; D008727:Methotrexate