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Effects of Arachidonic Acid on Hepatic Lipids in Ethanol‐Fed Rats
Author(s) -
Stern Zev,
Korsten Mark A.,
Carli Leonore M.,
Lieber Charles S.
Publication year - 1990
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.1530-0277.1990.tb00459.x
Subject(s) - arachidonic acid , ethanol , chemistry , endocrinology , medicine , carbohydrate , cholesterol , fatty acid , biochemistry , food science , biology , enzyme
The effects of arachidonic acid supplementation on rats fed ethanol employing an ad libitum schedule have been reported to be different from those observed when rats are fed in more limiting, matched fashion. To reexamine this issue, rats were fed unrestricted amounts of a diet in which 36% of the energy was provided by either ethanol or isocaloric amounts of carbohydrate. In half the animals, 7% of fat consisted of arachidonic acid. Despite earlier reports to the contrary, arachidonic acid had no effect on weight gain and did not attenuate the ethanol‐induced fatty liver. Arachidonate supplementation tended to increase hepatic total lipids and triacylglycerols, and to potentiate the ethanol‐induced elevation of cholesterol esters. Our present results are consistent with those previously reported using pair‐feeding techniques in which dietary intakes are somewhat limited. Thus, regardless of the feeding technique employed, relative arachidonic deficiency cannot be invoked to explain the lipid accumulation observed after chronic ethanol consumption.