REPEATED PHLEBOTOMY-INDUCED LIVER CELL NECROSIS IN RATS

Rats deprived of blood, amounting to about one percent of body weight, via orbital venous plexus phlebotomy for 2 weeks developed severe anemia. Their mean hematocrit value was 19%, and centrolobular liver cell necrosis was observed in animals with hematocrit value of 20% or less at the end of the study. It is obvious that the animals must have been in a severe anemic condition to develop liver cell necrosis. Thus, anemia should be considered as a causative factor of liver cell necrosis in toxicity studies in which the animals are in severe anemia attributable to drug administration.