Comparative Study of the Liver of Rats treated with Cholic and Lithocholic Acid, alone or associated with Butter-yellow

Abstract

As lithocholic acid has been found by many workers to exert a cirrhogenic effect on the liver in a variety of animal species, it seemed probable that, given simultaneously with butter-yellow, this biliary acid would act as a hepato-cocarcinogen. In an experimental investigation carried out in rats, both lithocholic and cholic acid showed no accelerating action on the carcinogenicity of butter-yellow. On the contrary, lithocholic acid alone, administered daily for several months, showed a slightly lower toxicity when compared with cholic acid.