Hepatotoxicity and metabolic changes in the rat following chronic administration of diethyl phthalate

ABSTRACT

This work was carried out on 20 adult male albino rats divided into two groups of 10 rats each. At the end of the treatment period, serum specimens were collected and the livers were excised for the determination of some serum enzymes and other biochemical parameters. It was observed that the serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase [AST], alanine aminotransferase [ALT], alkaline phosphatase [ALP] and gamma-glutamyl transferase [GGT] were increased significantly in diethyl phthalate [DEP] treated rats. Significant decreases were found in the liver AST, ALT and ALP levels. The serum and liver acid phosphatase [ACP] showed significant increases in DEP treated rats compared with the controls. On the other hand, liver glucose-6-phosphatase enzyme showed a significant decrease in DEP treated rats, while there was a significant increase in hepatic lipid peroxidation as manifested by an increase in malondialdehyde [MDA] concentration. There was a significant increase in liver glycogen levels, liver carnitine acetyl transferase and liver triglycerides in DEP treated rats. On the contrary, serum triglycerides levels showed a significant decrease