Effects of persimmon-vinegar on lipid metabolism and alcohol clearance in chronic alcohol-fed rats.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of persimmon-vinegar supplementation on lipid profiles, carnitine levels, and alcohol clearance in chronically alcoholic rats. Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups: the normal control group (NC), the ethanol-administered group (EC) (4 g/kg of body weight), the ethanol plus low-dose persimmon-vinegar-administered group (EVL) (1 mL/kg of body weight), and the ethanol plus high-dose persimmon-vinegar-administered group (EVH) (2 mL/kg of body weight). In this study, we found that persimmon-vinegar supplementation significantly decreased serum triglyceride and total cholesterol and liver total cholesterol levels compared to those of the EC group. The liver nonesterified carnitine level was significantly elevated in the persimmon-vinegar-administered groups as compared to that of the EC group. The blood ethanol concentration tended to be the lowest in the EVH group. There was a trend for the level of hepatic acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase mRNA to be decreased and hepatic carnitine palmitoyltransferase-I mRNA to be increased with increasing doses of persimmon-vinegar. These results suggest that supplementation of persimmon-vinegar prevents metabolic disorders induced by chronic administration of alcohol.