Table 1.
Literature summary on the effect of hepatic macrophage depletion on the extent of liver injury in experimental models of ALF
| Study | Model | Method of macrophage depletion/inhibition | Affect on severity of acute liver injury | Conclusion |
| Laskin et al[18], 1995 | APAP (rat) | Gadolinium chloride/dextran sulphate | Decreased ALT at 24 h in treated groups; Decreased necrosis | Macrophage depletion was protective |
| Michael et al[19], 1999 | APAP (mouse) | Gadolinium chloride/dextran sulphate | Decreased ALT at 8 h in treated groups | Macrophage depletion was protective |
| Hogaboam et al[12], 2000 | APAP (mouse) | CCR2 -/- | ALT at 24 and 48 h, hepatic necrosis and TUNEL staining all increased in KO; Increase in IFN-γ and TNF-α | CCR2 KO - macrophage depletion worsened liver injury |
| Dambach et al[13], 2002 | APAP (mouse) | CCR2 -/- | ALT levels similar in WT and KO mice; Histologically KO mice showed less inflammation at 72 h | CCR2 KO - macrophage depletion, caused less inflammation at 72 h but no overall difference in outcome |
| Ju et al[20], 2002 | APAP (mouse) | Liposome/clodronate | Increased ALT at 8 and 24 h in treated group | Macrophage depletion increased liver damage |
| Holt et al[6], 2008 | APAP (mouse) | CCR2 -/- | ALT same at 10 and 24 h; Comparable histological necrosis at 24 h but delayed recovery at 48 and 72 h in CCR2 -/- | Reduction in infiltrating macrophage population causes delayed recovery |
| Karlmark et al[5], 2009 | CCl4 (mouse) | Liposome/clodronate | Unaltered ALT level at 4 and 24 h post-CCl4 | Reduction in infiltrating macrophages had no effect on severity of liver damage |
ALF: Acute liver failure; ALT: Alanine transaminase; WT: Wild-type; KO: Knockout; APAP: Acetaminophen induced hepatotoxicity; CCl4: Carbon tetrachloride; CCR2: Chemokine (C-C motif) receptor 2.