Liver Damaging Effect of Suramin in Normal and Carbon-Tetrachloride Treated Rats

Abstract

Male Fischer 344 (F344) rats were treated with phenobarbital + carbon tetrachloride (CCl,) for 16 weeks to induce liver cirrhosis. Another group of rats received 50 mg/kg iv suramin once a week for 16 weeks. The third group of rats was treated with both phenobarbital + CCl, and suramin. After 16 weeks of suramin .treatment, a massive periportal infiltration composed of macrophages, many of them containing glycosaminoglycans in their cytoplasm, mast cells, and other inflammatory cells were observed. This lesion was added to the liver cirrhosis caused by CCl, in the group treated with suramin and CCI,. The changes in glycosaminoglycan metabolism caused by suramin did not influence the CCl, cirrhosis. Since suramin has been reported to be a prototype of a new generation of antitumor compounds, we suggest caution in the use of chronic suramin treatment, especially in patients with livers which are already damaged.

Phytochemical Screening, GC-MS Analysis, and Evaluating In Vivo Antitrypanosomal Effects of a Methanolic Extract of Garcinia kola Nuts on Rats

“…Strikingly, the rats treated with the positive control suramin (group 5) showed the relatively greatest increase in body mass. There are different data in the literature regarding the effect of suramin on this [ 29 , 30 ]. However, more importantly, group 6 (negative control), which did not receive any treatment, showed a continuous decrease in body weight over the 14 days observation period.…”