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Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Inducing Acute Liver Injury in Rats via Carbon Tetrachloride (CCl4) Exposure Through an Orogastric Tube
Published on: April 28, 2020
Intestinal flora imbalance results in altered bacterial translocation and liver function in rats with experimental
Wei Zhang1, Yurong Gu, Youming Chen
1Department of Infectious Disease, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, PR China.
Background/Purpose:
The intestinal microflora plays a major role in human health. Intestinal flora imbalances are seen in clinical settings, such as cirrhosis, in which bacterial translocation (BT) results in migration of bacteria or bacterial products from the intestinal lumen to extraintestinal sites. In this study, we explored the effect of alterations in gut flora on BT and liver function in cirrhotic rats.
Methods:
In this study, we used a carbon tetrachloride-induced cirrhotic rat model to compare the abundance of major aerobic and anaerobic bacterial species in healthy and cirrhotic rats. We used antibiotic (norfloxacin) and different probiotic treatments to change the status of gut flora in the cirrhotic rats and evaluated BT, liver function, and endotoxemia in the different models.
Results:
We found higher levels of Enterobacteriaceae in cirrhotic rats when compared with healthy rats. Bifidobacteria treatment resulted in lower levels of Enterobacteriaceae along with increased levels of Lactobacillus when compared with the normal saline group. Both Bifidobacteria and Enterococcus treatments resulted in lower endotoxin levels than in the normal saline group.
Conclusion:
Gut flora imbalances in cirrhotic rats result in significant changes in BT and liver function in cirrhotic rats.
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