Aflatoxin-Induced Hepatic Injury in the African Monkey

Aflatoxin B1, fed to African monkeys (Cereopithecus aethiops) in doses of 0.01 to 1.0 mg daily until death, produced a consistent histological pattern of hepatic toxicity characterized by centrilobutar loss of stainable cytoplasm and necrosis with mid-zonal fatty change, but without hemorrhage, fibrosis, or bile-duct proliferation. This toxic hepatitis, induced for the first time in a primate by aflatoxin, is similar to that occasionally seen in man and was preceded by mild elevations of bilirubin concentration and serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase activity, reflecting hepatic necrosis.