Tests for Hepatic Dysfunction of Mice. ∗

Abstract

Summary

Six tests for the study of hepatic dysfunction and damage were applied to Swiss mice. Insufficiently sensitive to detect hepatic lesions were the thymolturbidity test, plasma-coagulation time and vaginal-smear cytology. Cephalin-cholesterol flocculation was not applicable owing to the fact that normal mouse sera reacted positively. Blood-bilirubin determinations indicated hepatic lesions induced by carbon tetrachloride or phosphorus. The increase in bilirubin in the blood, however, even in cases of extensive damage, was not high; 0.3 mg per 100 cc of plasma in control mice as an average, as compared with 0.6 mg per 100 cc in those with carbon tetrachloride lesions.

Retention of bromsulphalein was the most useful and accurate of all the tests described herein. A base line was established for control mice; i.e., less than 1 mg of dye retained per 100 cc of plasma could be regarded as normal. In mice with hepatic lesions, tested at a proper time and within the limitations mentioned, values 10 or 20 times higher than the normal were not unusual. Since retention of this dye was increased by diverse methods such as chemical poisoning, bacterial infection, starvation, and injection of autolyzed tissue, its use may be of value in the study of experimental problems connected with hepatic injury of mice.