title: Safety evaluation of a potential ablation agent-hydrochloric acid in the rabbits' model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the safety of a potential ablation agent-hydrochloric acid (HCl), which may apply to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty adult New Zealand rabbits were divided into five groups of equal size (n=16), i.e., untreated group, normal saline (NS) control group, 10% HCl group, 20% HCl group and 30% HCl group. Each group was divided into two subgroups: ten rabbits for two-week toxicology study at the time points of hours 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 3, 6 and days 2, 7, 14 and six rabbits for imaging and histopathology study at the time points of days 2, 7 and 14. In toxicology study we evaluated the safety of HCl from arterial blood gas status, hematology and hepatic and renal functions. In imaging and histopathology study, we observed the relationship between the sizes of lesion and the concentration of HCl, as well as extension of necrosis and concentration of HCl. In this study we also observed the microcosmic and macroscopic lesion that caused by HCl.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In general condition, food, water consumption and body weight decreased notablely during the beginning of the experiment. In toxicology study, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and lactic acid contents were higher in the 30% hydrochloric acid group than in other groups (P<0.005), all test items returned to normal on day 14. Imaging and histopathology study showed that 30% HCl caused larger lesion area than other HCl concentration and the necrosis that caused by HCl was complete. There was also a close relationship between the size of minor damaged area and HCl concentration. The 30% HCl caused larger minor damaged area than other HCl concentration. Because the damaged area was surrounded by a layer of fiber tissue, the lesion area became larger at days 7 and 14 time points. This study also demonstrated that the adjacent organs had no obvious damage, and all the damaged areas were limited in the liver.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HCl is a safe ablation agent for local injection in the liver. HCl at a lower concentration is safer than at a higher concentration.
authors.affiliation: The Center of Medical Image and Image Guided Therapy, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Wang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: The Center of Medical Image and Image Guided Therapy, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Yang-Kui
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: The Center of Medical Image and Image Guided Therapy, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Wan-Li
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: The Center of Medical Image and Image Guided Therapy, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University & State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China & Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou 510060, China. Email: hjinh@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jin-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Huang
keywords: Hydrochloric acid (HCl); ablation agent; hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); interventional radiology; rabbits; safety