HEPATIC ALTERATIONS PRODUCED IN MICE BY XANTHOMEGNIN AND VIOMELLEIN, METABOLITES OF PENICILLIUM-VIRIDICATUM

Xanthomegnin and viomellein obtained from a toxigenic isolate [from rice] of P. viridicatum were fed to weanling male Swiss mice at dietary concentrations of 448 and 456 mg/kg of feed, respectively. Gross alterations included jaundice, greenish discoloration of the kidney, and small foci of discoloration in the liver. The histologic alterations in the liver were centered about the intrahepatic biliary ducts and included necrotizing cholangitis, periductal edema and pericholangitis, disseminated focal hepatic necrosis, periductal fibrosis, and hypertrophy and hyperplasia of biliary epithelium. The spectrum of hepatic lesions were as previously produced in mice by crude cultural products of P. viridicatum.