A new oral low-carbohydrate alcohol liquid diet producing liver lesions: a preliminary account.
Male Wistar rats were administered a modified, but nutritionally adequate, ethanol liquid diet with a low content of carbohydrate (5.5% of energy). The high daily intake of ethanol (mean 12.9 g/kg body wt) resulted in consistently sustained elevation of diurnal blood ethanol levels (mean 40.3 +/- 14.9mmol/l, corresponding to 180mg/dl). Marked micro- and macrovesicular panlobular steatosis, occasional inflammatory foci and a threefold elevation of serum alanine aminotransferase activity developed in 6 weeks. In livers from rats on regular 11% carbohydrate diet, lesions beyond periportally located steatosis were rare. These observations suggest that oral administration of a low-carbohydrate liquid ethanol diet may provide an affordable alternative to the technically demanding intragastric feeding model for experimental studies of alcoholic liver disease.
National Public Health Institute, Alcohol Research Center, Helsinki, Finland.
K O
KO
Lindros
H A
HA
Järveläinen
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D000431:Ethanol / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005235:Fatty Liver, Alcoholic / Q000201:enzymology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005526:Food, Formulated / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D051381:Rats; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D000431:Ethanol; D000410:Alanine Transaminase