Effects of alkyl alcohols and related chemicals on rat liver structure and function. I. Induction of two distinct types of megamitochondria.
The effects of alkyl alcohols and related chemicals on the ultrastructure of mitochondria in the rat hepatocyte were studied. The following three different groups of chemicals were tested: Group 1: alkyl alcohols with straight carbon chains (ethanol, 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol, 1-octanol, 1-dodecanol and 1-octadecanol); Group 2: tert- and cyclo-compounds (tert-butanol, cyclo-pentanol, and cyclo-hexanol); and Group 3: polyhydroxy alcohols (ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, 1, 3-propanediol, glycerol and pentaerythritol). Results obtained were summarized as follows: 1) Ethanol, 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol and 1-octanol had essentially the same effects on the mitochondrial ultrastructure: a mixed population of small and enlarged mitochondria with poorly developed cristae; 1-dodecanol induced ultrastructural changes of mitochondria of two distinct types: a mixed population of small and enlarged mitochondria with poorly developed cristae in some hepatocytes and remarkably enlarged mitochondria with well-developed cristate in others; and 1-octadecanol induced remarkably enlarged mitochondria in all hepatocytes. 2) Chemicals belonging to group 2 and group 3 induced essentially the same changes as those induced by 1-octadecanol. More than one month was required to induce those changes. The mechanism by which those ultrastructural mitochondrial changes were induced is not clear, but the present results may suggest that the hydroxy group (-OH) common to all these chemicals in some way accounts for the phenomenon.
Wakabayashi
T
T
Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Pathology, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Japan.
Adachi
K
K
Popinigis
J
J
D020001:1-Butanol; D000433:1-Propanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D000438:Alcohols / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000440:Butanols / Q000494:pharmacology; D007851:Dodecanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D019855:Ethylene Glycol; D005026:Ethylene Glycols / Q000494:pharmacology; D005990:Glycerol / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008930:Mitochondria, Liver / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D019946:Propylene Glycol; D011409:Propylene Glycols / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D000438:Alcohols; D000440:Butanols; D005026:Ethylene Glycols; D011409:Propylene Glycols; D007851:Dodecanol; D000431:Ethanol; D019946:Propylene Glycol; D020001:1-Butanol; D000433:1-Propanol; D019855:Ethylene Glycol; D005990:Glycerol