title: Ethanol metabolism in vivo by the microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system in deermice lacking alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH).
abstract: To assess the importance of non-ADH ethanol metabolism, ADH-negative and ADH-positive deermice were fed liquid diets containing ethanol or isocaloric carbohydrate for 2-4 weeks. Blood ethanol disappearance rate increased significantly after chronic ethanol feeding in both strains. Although at low ethanol concentrations (between 5 and 10 mM) there was no significant difference between ethanol-fed and pair-fed control animals, at high ethanol concentrations (between 40 and 70 mM) blood ethanol elimination rates were increased significantly after chronic ethanol feeding in both ADH-positive and ADH-negative animals. There was no significant effect of the catalase inhibitor 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole on the ethanol elimination/rates in both strains. Whereas catalase and ADH activities were not altered after chronic ethanol treatment, the activity of the microsomal ethanol-oxidizing system (MEOS) was enhanced three to four times in both strains, and microsomal cytochrome P-450 content was also increased significantly. When MEOS activity was expressed per cytochrome P-450 content, it was higher in ADH-negative than in ADH-positive animals, and it increased after ethanol administration. When microsomal proteins were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, ethanol-fed animals had a distinct band which reflected the increase in microsomal cytochrome P-450 content and seemed to reflect a unique form of cytochrome P-450 induced by ethanol. Thus, despite the absence of the ADH pathway, a large amount of ethanol was metabolized by MEOS in ADH-negative deermice; this was associated with increased blood ethanol elimination rates, enhanced MEOS activity, and quantitative and qualitative changes of cytochrome P-450.
mesh_terms: D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase; D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000378:metabolism; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D008099:Liver / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008862:Microsomes, Liver / Q000201:enzymology; D010542:Peromyscus / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases; D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase; D002374:Catalase