Lipopolysaccharide （LPS） was found to induce significant hepatocytotoxicity against cultured mouse hepatocytes. Degeneration and necrosis of cultured hepatocytes and decrease of hepatocyte viability were prominent. The aspartate transferase level and 3H-TdR release in the medium were significantly increased after treatment

and the degree of these changes paralleled with LPS concentration. Various other parameters showed no significant difference between the hepatocytes cultured alone and those cocultured with nonparenchymal liver cells. However

if the nonparenchymal liver cells were isolated from mice which had been pretreated with D-galactosamine （GalN） not only was the hepatocyotoxicity induced by LPS enhanced

but the cells also showed certain cytotoxicity against cultured hepatocytes even without LPS

These results suggest that nonparenchymal liver cells might promote LPL-induced hepatocyte injury.