Microcirculatory responses to estradiol benzoate in chronic liver damage induced by carbon tetrachloride in the rat

Microcirculatory responses to estradiol benzoate (ES) under condition of chronic liver damage induced by long-term administration of carbon tetrachloride (CC14) was investigated in the rat. One hundred and five male rats were divided into the following groups receiving 0.1 mg/100 g body weight ES injected intraperitoneally 5 times per week: (1) controls, exposed to CC14 alone; (2) rats treated with ES from the fourth week of CCl4 exposure; (3) animals treated with ES from the 11th week of CC14 exposure. In rats receiving CC14 alone, liver cirrhosis was induced by 10 consecutive weeks of exposure. Microangiograms of the liver demonstrated conspicuous rarefaction of the vascular tree. On the other hand, animals treated with ES had neither atrophic liver nor rarefaction of the intrahepatic vascular tree. ES produced also intrahepatic neovascular proliferation in the cirrhotic liver. After long-term CCl4 administration, ES treated rats had extremely enlarged nodules with tumor-stain like findings, giving rise to a structure differing from hepatocellular carcinoma which latter generally displays a broom-swept appearance. It is concluded that in providing potent angiogenesis in the liver, ES protects the liver against microcirculatory derangement and parenchymal damage induced by CC14.