Sustained activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is believed to be the initial key event in AHR receptor-mediated tumorigenesis in the rat liver. The role of AHR in mediating pathological changes in the liver prior to tumor formation was investigated in a 4-week, repeated-dose study using adult female wild-type (WT) and AHR knockout (AHR-KO) rats treated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). Beginning at 8 weeks of age, AHR-KO and WT rats were dosed by oral gavage with varying concentrations of TCDD (0, 3, 22, 100, 300 and 1000 ng kg(-1) day(-1) ). Lung, liver and thymus histopathology, hematology, serum chemistry and the distribution of TCDD in liver and adipose tissue were examined. Treatment-related increases in the severity of liver and thymus pathology were observed in WT, but not AHR-KO rats. In the liver, these included hepatocellular hypertrophy, bile duct hyperplasia, multinucleated hepatocytes and inflammatory cell foci. A loss of cellularity in the thymic cortex and thymic atrophy was observed. Treatment-related changes in serum chemistry parameters were also observed in WT, but not AHR-KO rats. Finally, dose-dependent accumulation of TCDD was observed primarily in the liver of WT rats and primarily in the adipose tissue of AHR-KO rats. The results suggest that AHR activation is the initial key event underlying the progression of histological effects leading to liver tumorigenesis following TCDD treatment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.