A probable defect in the beta-oxidation of lipids in rats fed alcohol for 6 months.

Studies on fatty acid oxidation were made in rats fed for 6 months on a liquid diet containing 15% total calories as ethanol. After 6 months, a marked diminution was observed in the in vivo production of 14CO2 from labeled palmitate and octanoate in the ethanol-fed animals compared to their pair-fed isocaloric controls not receiving alcohol. Similar results were obtained in 14CO2 formation from 14C-fatty acids using liver mitochondria from these ethanol-fed rats after 6 months. The effect on octanoate beta-oxidation was larger than that for palmitate. Addition of purified acyl CoA dehydrogenase complexes and additional electron transfer flavoprotein complex to the mitochondria suggested that the ethanol-fed animals could have been deficient in the medium-chain acyl CoA-dehydrogenase complex.