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Ethanol Ingestion and Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: Effects on the Acyl‐CoA Desaturases
Author(s) -
Wang Danny L.,
Reitz Ronald C.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1983.tb05445.x
Subject(s) - reductase , enzyme , ethanol , microsome , polyunsaturated fatty acid , ingestion , biochemistry , fatty acid desaturase , fatty acid , biology , chemistry , medicine , endocrinology
The ingestion of ethanol results in altered compositions of the polyenoic fatty acids in a varlety of liver and brain membranes. A possible cause for these alterations in hepatic endoplasmic reticu‐lum membranes has been studied by measuring the Δ 9 , Δ 6 , and Δ 5 acyl‐CoA desaturase activities in hepatic microsomes from chronically or acutely treated rats. Chronically, ethanol decreased all three enzyme activities with the following order of sensitlvlty: Δ 8 (65%), Δ 9 (54%), and Δ 5 (46%). The short‐term study indicated that all three desaturase activities were affected after 1 day of ethanol feeding. NADPH‐ and NADHsytochrome c reductase activitles were found to be reduced in chronically treated rats, and the NADH‐cytochrome c reductase was decreased in the acutely treated. However, these reduced enzyme activities could not account for the decrease in desaturase activities due to the very marked differences between the specific activities of these enzymes compared to the desaturase. Thus, we conclude that changes in membrane polyenoic fatty acid composition can be the result of ethanol‐induced decreases in the terminal desaturase enzymes.