Morphological investigation of alcohol-induced hepatocyte apoptosis and liver injury in rats

The aim of this study was to morphologicall investigation of alcohol-induced hepatocyte apoptosis and liver injury in rats. a total of 20 male sprague-dawley rats were divided into two groups: control, and alcohol treated; each group contain 10 animals. the rats in alcohol treated group was given a daily dose of 6 g/kg ethanol by using intragastric intubation. control group was given the same volume of saline. this application was continued daily for a total of 6 weeks. the end of the experiment all animals were anesthetized. the anesthetized rats were sacrificed and liver tissues were removed for histopathological investigation. liver damage was examined by using hematoxylin-eosin and apoptosis was determined by terminal-deoxynucleotidyl-transferase mediated dutp nick end labeling (tunel). there existed hepatocyte diffuse steatosis and hemorrhage in alcohol treated group. our data indicate an enhancement in the activity of tunel in hepatocyte apoptosis of the alcholol treated group. the effects of alcohol on liver can be clearly detected as a hepatocyte cell death and liver injury.