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.
Lindros
K O
KO
National Public Health Institute, Alcohol Research Center, Helsinki, Finland.
Järveläinen
H A
HA
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