Abstract
Summary
Monocrotaline, a pyrrolizidine alkaloid, and its metabolite, monocrotaline pyrrole, caused a significant suppression of DNA synthesis following partial hepatectomy in rats. Rats receiving mesenteric vein injections of monocrotaline pyrrole prior to partial hepatectomy showed a marked inhibition of liver cell division between 32 and 38 hr following surgery. Both the parent alkaloid and its pyrrole derivative induced megalohepatocytosis in rats 4 wk after their administration. The effect of the pyrrolic metabolite was considerably greater than that of the parent compound, supporting the contention that the consequences of pyrrolizidine alkaloid intoxication are due primarily to in vivo hepatic conversion of the alkaloid to its pyrrole derivative.
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