Location of Liver Injury and Extent of Bilirubinaemia in Experimental Liver Lesions

Abstract

Reports on experimental hepatotoxicities in domestic animals were reviewed in order to investigate the relationship between the location of liver lesions and hyperbilirubinaemia. A purely centrilobular lesion tends to produce little effect on bilirubin concentration in the circulation. A mild to moderate hyperbilirubinaemia is predictable if a centrilobular lesion is extensive enough to include cells of the outer zones, however, even an apparently mild periportal liver lesion, but one that affects the integrity of cell membranes, results in a marked rise in bilirubin concentration in the circulation.