Plasma endothelin levels in chronic ethanol fed rats: relationship to pathologic liver injury

• Published in: Life sciences (1973) Vol. 54; no. 6; pp. 423 - 428
• Main Authors: Nanji, Amin A., Khwaja, Shamsuddin, Khettry, Urmila, Hossein Sadrzadeh, S.M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 1994; Elsevier
• Subjects: Alcoholism and acute alcohol poisoning; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Dietary Fats - administration & dosage; Dietary Fats, Unsaturated - administration & dosage; Endothelins - blood; Ethanol - administration & dosage; Liver - pathology; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic - blood; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic - pathology; Medical sciences; Rats; Toxicology; Endothelin; Ethanol; Rat; Toxicity; Rodentia; Vasoconstriction; Hepatic disease; Supplemented diet; Blood flow; Vertebrata; Vasomotricity; Mammalia; Animal; Digestive diseases; Complication; Lesion
• ISSN: 0024-3205; 1879-0631
• DOI: 10.1016/0024-3205(94)00700-4

We used the intragastric feeding rat model for alcohol liver disease to the relationship between endothelin and pathologic liver injury. Rats were fed the following diets for periods of 1, 2 and 4 weeks: corn oil plus ethanol (CE), corn oil plus dextrose (CD) and saturated fat plus ethanol (SE). Plasma endothelin levels were significantly higher in the CE group compared to the other groups at all time periods studied. The CE animals, also, developed pathologic liver injury which is in contrast to the SE and CD animals which showed no pathologic changes. We propose that endothelin, because of its powerful vasoconstrictive effects, leads to a reduction in hepatic blood flow which is important in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease.