The mechanism underlying the appearance of sex difference in hepatic injury of rats treated with chenodeoxycholic acid

• Published in: Kanzo Vol. 17; no. 8; pp. 571 - 579
• Main Authors: HIGUCHI, MASARU, TAMURA, Masahiro, MATSUI, Tsutomu, NISHIMURA, Yoshiaki, MATSUYAMA, Yoshinori, FUJIMOTO, Takayoshi, MATSUOKA, Yoichi, TSUJII, Tadasu, MORITA, Tomofumi, NOSHI, Hideoki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: The Japan Society of Hepatology 1976
• ISSN: 0451-4203; 1881-3593
• DOI: 10.2957/kanzo.17.571

In the rats treated with chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) hepatic injury in females is more extensive than that in males. In order to clarify the mechanism underlying the appearance of such sex difference, 200mg/day of CDCA was orally administered to male and female rats for 8 weeks and sex differences in the composition of bile acid in portal blood and bilejuice and changes in concentration of lipids in plasma and the liver were investigated. As to the composition of bile acid, the CDCA levels in female rats were 1.8 times higher in portal blood and several times higher in bile juice than those in males. Such sex differences are considered to be due to the difference in 6β-hydroxylase system of bile acid in the liver. It is suggested that the protective mechanism of the female rat against hepatotoxicity caused by bile acid is inferior to that of the male rat. As to the lipid levels in the liver and plasma, in male, no remarkable change was noticed, while in female, an increase of cholesterol and triglyceride in the liver and a decrease of triglyceride in plasma were observed. Such change in lipid levels suggested that inhibition of cholesterol synthesis by CDCA in females is less than in males and the transport system of triglyceride from the liver to blood is hindered in females.