The effect of carbon tetrachloride on isolated rat hepatocytes

Isolated rat hepatocytes were incubated with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) at a concentration of 0.2 mol CCl4/ml of incubation medium. The ultrastructural alterations and release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), were recorded after different periods of incubation. After 5 min incubation with CCl4, morphological changes observed by electron microscopy, involved the plasma membrane. The endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria were altered later. These morphological alterations were accompanied by an early release of LDH and GOT into the incubation medium. It is concluded that, in contrast with its in vivo effects, in vitro CCl4 can induced an early morphological alteration of the hepatocyte plasma membrane before damaging the endoplasmic reticulum.