Sex-linked differences in the course of thioacetamide-induced acute liver failure in Lewis rats

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a clinical syndrome with high mortality rate, resulting from widespread hepatocyte damage. Its pathophysiological background is still poorly understood and preclinical studies evaluating pathophysiology and new potential therapeutic measures are needed. The model of ALF induced by administration of thioacetamide (TAA) in Lewis rats is recommended as optimal; however, the limitation of previous studies was that they were performed predominantly in male rats. In view of the growing recognition that sex as a biological variable should be taken into consideration in preclinical research, we examined its role in the development of TAA-induced ALF in Lewis rats. We found that, first, intact male Lewis rats showed lower survival rate than their female counterparts, due to augmented liver injury documented by higher plasma ammonia, and bilirubin levels and alanine aminotransferase activity. Second, in female rats castration did not alter the course of TAA-induced ALF whereas in the male gonadectomy improved the survival rate and attenuated liver injury, reducing it to levels observed in their female counterparts. In conclusion, we found that Lewis rats show a remarkable sexual dimorphism with respect to TAA-induced ALF, and male rats display dramatically poorer prognosis as compared with the females. We showed that testosterone is responsible for the deterioration of the course of TAA-induced ALF in male rats. In most general terms, our findings indicate that in the preclinical studies of the pathophysiology and treatment of ALF (at least of the TAA-induced form) the sex-linked differences should be seriously considered.