Bacterial translocation in thioacetamide induced liver cirrhosis in rats

Cirrhotic liver is predisposed to bacterial infections. Different species of bacteria including Escherichia coli, Enterobacter and Bacteroides fragilis were found to colonize thioacetamide-induced cirrhotic rat liver. Zinc treatment of the cirrhotic rats significantly corrected the histological and histochemical changes in the liver. However, this reversal with zinc treatment was not accompanied by any change in the bacterial colonies in the liver. The study shows that cirrhosis predisposes liver to bacterial colonization and the process is not reversible despite the partial reversal of the cirrhotic changes.