title: Acetylcarnitine-mediated inhibition of ethanol oxidation in hepatocytes.
abstract: Carnitine-mediated prevention of ethanol-induced hepatic steatosis is related to the attenuation of ethanol metabolism by carnitine in the intact rat. Although carnitine retards ethanol oxidation in the intact animal, the in vitro activities of ethanol-metabolizing enzymes remain unaltered. Therefore, hepatocytes were targeted to understand the mechanism of carnitine effect on ethanol metabolism. Rat hepatocytes were isolated by a collagenase-perfusion technique and incubated in albumin-containing medium with ethanol in the presence or absence of added carnitine or related compounds. Ethanol oxidation was determined by the loss of ethanol as well as by the products formed. The rate of ethanol oxidation in the presence of carnitine was one-half the rate in the absence of carnitine (14 vs. 25 nmol.min-1.million-1 cells). It took 100 times the concentration of carnitine to equal the maximal inhibition produced by acetylcarnitine and the effect of acetylcarnitine was without a lag time. It is concluded that acetylcarnitine is the mediator of carnitine inhibition of ethanol oxidation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, College of Human Ecology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville 37996-1900, USA.
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Sachan
mesh_terms: D000108:Acetylcarnitine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D002331:Carnitine / Q000494:pharmacology; D002469:Cell Separation; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism*; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol; D000108:Acetylcarnitine; D002331:Carnitine