title: Ethanol sensitivity and fatty acid composition of chick liver mitochondrial and microsomal membranes.
abstract: Fatty acid composition of hepatic mitochondrial and microsomal membranes was studied in 2-day-old chicks exposed to ethanol for 60 h (short treatment) or 18 days (chronic treatment). Short ethanol treatment induced in mitochondria an increase in the 18:1/18:0 ratio as a consequence of both an increase in the percentage of oleic and a decrease in that of stearic acid. Likewise, a clear decrease in the polyunsaturated fatty acids and in the 20:4/18:2 ratio was found in mitochondria after short ethanol administration. Microsomal membranes were practically unaffected by this treatment. However, chronic ethanol exposure produced a significant increase in the percentages of polyunsaturated fatty acids in both mitochondria and microsomes as well as a decrease in the 18:1/18:0 ratio. These results suggest that delta 9 desaturase modifies its activity in response to ethanol treatment with a different pattern to those showed by delta 6 and delta 5 desaturase activities.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D007425:Intracellular Membranes / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D008297:Male; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D008862:Microsomes, Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008930:Mitochondria, Liver / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D008563:Membrane Lipids; D000431:Ethanol