Effect of Sex Hormones on Ethanol Induced Fatty Infiltration of Liver in Rats

Abstract

Following acute ethanol intoxication, female rats showed a more severe fatty infiltration of the liver than did male rats. Administration of estradiol to male rats, or ovariectomy of female rats, prior to such intoxication, did not affect this fatty infiltration. On the other hand, administration of testosterone to female rats reduced the liver lipid concentrations to values similar to those obtained with males, while castration of males increased the liver lipid concentrations to those obtained with females. Castrated male rats, when treated with testosterone no longer showed liver lipid values that were higher than those of intact males. These results suggest that testosterone exerts a lipotropic action on ethanol-induced fatty infiltration of the livers in rats, while the estrogens do not influence this process.