title: Relative and combined roles of ethanol and protein malnutrition on skeletal muscle.
abstract: The aim of the present study is to analyse the relative and combined effect of ethanol and protein malnutrition on muscle changes in ethanol-fed rats. The study was performed in 32 animals divided into four groups, fed with the Lieber-DeCarli control, 36% ethanol, 2% protein, and 36% ethanol/2% protein-containing diets, respectively. Right gastrocnemius muscle was removed two months later, and histochemical-morphometrically studied. Type IIb fibre atrophy was observed both in the alcoholic and protein-deficient animals. The combination of these factors led to a slightly more marked atrophy. Malnutrition led to a decrease in type I fibre diameter; ethanol caused an increase in their size; whereas concurrent administration of ethanol and a protein deficient diet led to type I fibre atrophy. The proportion of type IIb fibre decreased in the three experimental groups with respect to the control group, especially in the alcoholic, protein-deficient animals. Thus, malnutrition potentiates the effect of ethanol except for changes in type I fibre diameter, in which the effects are opposite.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Facultad de Medicina, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Conde
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Reimers
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: González-Hernández
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Santolaria
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martinez-Riera
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Romero-Perez
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Moreno
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D004032:Diet; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009133:Muscular Atrophy / Q000209:etiology*; D011502:Protein-Energy Malnutrition / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol