Esophageal Varices in Rat Models of Liver Cirrhosis

Animal models resembling the human situation arevery useful to investigate human disease. However, therehas been no evidence of esophageal varices in rats withliver cirrhosis. In the present study, to determine whether intrahepatic portalhypertension produced by liver cirrhosis inducesesophageal varices in rats, the esophagus was examinedendoscopically in rat models of liver cirrhosis. Allrats given carbon tetrachloride or thioacetamide and sixof seven rats given a choline-deficient diet hadesophageal varices or venous dilatation after 16 weeksof treatment, although the varices in one rat given carbon tetrachloride and in two rats given acholine-deficient diet were reduced from weeks 16 to 18.These findings suggest that timing is important whenstudying esophageal varices in rat models of liver cirrhosis. It is concluded that certain modelsof liver cirrhosis in rats could be used as models ofesophageal varices due to intrahepatic portalhypertension.