Abstract
Summary
Liver regeneration has been investigated in partially hepatectomized non-pregnant and gravid rats with Walker tumor transplanted into the remaining liver at surgery and fed either a control ration or one supplemented with 0.25% acenaphthene over a period of 7 days. Pregnancy accelerated liver weight restoration to a greater extent than acenaphthene feeding and the presence of tumor had no influence on the process. However, the growth of transplanted tumor was more rapid in the partially hepatectomized animals than in the sham-operated gravid and nonpregnant rats. The effect of pregnancy in operated rats on the control diet was maximal, exceeding that produced by various agents known to stimulate liver regeneration and supplemented in diets fed for 10.5 days. These included thalidomide (0.25%), phenylbutazone (0.35%), usnic acid (0.20%) and 2,4-dithiopyrimidine (0.050%). The last diet accelerated the liver weight restoration above that of the control gravid animals but thalidomide contributed little to the already heightened regeneration when administered to pregnant rats. The depressant, nicotinamide (dietary level: 0.35%), normalized the extent of hepatic regeneration when fed to gravid animals but an inhibitory effect was apparent when the liver increment was compared to that of the pregnant group on the control diet.
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