Fatty Liver in the Rat after Prolonged Intake of Ethanol with a Nutritionally Adequate New Liquid Diet

Abstract

To determine whether prolonged ethanol intake can produce a fatty liver, even when associated with a diet containing adequate amounts of protein, minerals and vitamins, rats were given liquid diets containing 18% of calories as casein, supplemented with methionine (0.3 mg/kcal) and cystine (0.5 mg/kcal), choline (0.25 mg/kcal), fat (35% of total calories), adequate minerals and vitamins and, in the control diet, 47% of the calories as carbohydrates. A littermate of each control rat was pair-fed with the same diet in which carbohydrates had been isocalorically replaced with alcohol to the extent of 36% of the total calories. These diets assured continued growth in all animals and normal liver in the controls, whereas in the rats fed with alcohol, fatty liver developed, which was evident both morphologically and on chemical analysis; after 24 days of alcohol, hepatic triglycerides had increased on the average sixfold and cholesterol esters fivefold, compared with those of the controls. These studies demonstrate that prolonged alcohol intake can produce a fatty liver even when given with a diet with nutritionally adequate content of protein, vitamins and minerals, and an amount of fat less than that of the average American diet.