Protein synthesis in bone and skin of the rat are inhibited by ethanol: implications for whole body metabolism.
The acute effects of ethanol (75 mmol/kg body weight, intraperitoneal) on rates of protein synthesis in bone tibia) and skin of young (approximately 100 g body weight) laboratory rats was investigated. Plasma ethanol levels were raised to approximately 40 mmol/liter. At 2.5 hr, rates of protein synthesis were measured with a flooding dose of L-[4-3H]phenylalanine. In bone the protein-bound specific radioactivities, fractional synthesis rates, and synthesis rates relative to RNA and DNA were significantly reduced by approximately 30%. In skin these variables similarly decreased in response to ethanol treatment, by approximately 25%. The reduction in absolute rates of protein synthesis in bone (delta, 0.7 g protein/day/kg body weight) and skin (delta, 3.4 g protein/day/kg body weight) were comparable to the reductions in liver and skeletal muscle in response to acute ethanol. As bone and skin contribute to a quarter of whole body protein synthesis, it was concluded that these observations may have important implications for whole body protein homeostasis.
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, United Kingdom.
V R
VR
Preedy
J S
JS
Marway
J R
JR
Salisbury
T J
TJ
Peters
D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D000431:Ethanol / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
D000431:Ethanol