Establishment of a standardized liver fibrosis model with different pathological stages in rats

Objective. To establish a standardized animal model for liver fibrosis with the same assessment criteria for liver fibrosis studies that have been established on a unified platform. Methods. The standardized liver fibrosis model was established using Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats that either received an intraperitoneal injection of carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)) in small dosages or ingested an ethanol solution. Results. The definite corresponding rules among modeling of different weeks and corresponding serology indices as well as different pathological staging can be observed by modeling with small dosages and slow, individualized, and combined administrations. Conclusion. This method can be used for the standardized establishment of a liver fibrosis model in rats across 5 pathological stages, ranging from S0 to S4, with a high success rate (89.33%) and low death rate (17.3%) because of the application of multiple hypotoxic chemicals for modeling. We refer to the criteria of Histological Grading and Staging of Chronic Hepatitis for Fibrosis established by the 10th World Digestive Disease Academic Conference in Los Angeles in September 1994 (revised in November 2000).