Toxicity of 2-Mercaptopropionylglycine (MPG) on Mouse Liver

Undertaken study deals with any vulnerable changes by the radioprotective drug 2-mercaptopropionylglycine, after administering in variable concentration (20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 mg/kg body- weight) of the liver of adult mice at 1, 3, 7 and 14 days interval. The lower doses, 20 and 50 mg/kg body-weight of MPG did not affect the liver at all while at higher doses of 100, 200 and 500 mg/kg body-weight of MPG, liver showed many histopathological changes in the form of cytoplasmic degranulation and vacuolation, pyknotic, necrotic, crenated and hypertypic nuclei, hyperaemia, and lymphocytic infiltration etc. These damages were found to be irreversible at the dose level of 500 mg/kg body-weight at the last interval studied. Radioprotective effect of 2-mercaptopropionylglycine was first reported in 1965. But interest in this chemical was aroused in 1970, when Sugahara and co-workers showed its potent radioprotective quality in the survivability of mice against lethal doses of ionizing radiations. An excellent review by Sugahara and Srivastava (1975: Personal communication) and a few reports on the radioprotective effect of 2-mercaptopropionylglycine against gamma radiation have appeared. In the present report we have considered the toxic role of MPG on mouse tissues. Information on this problem can best be obtained by studying the histopathological effect of MPG on mouse liver at different dose levels, because liver is one of the organs with highest metabolic activity, easily shows vulnerable changes after administration of any drug.