Endotoxin hepatotoxicity augmented by ethanol.

To determine whether alcohol increases endotoxin hepatotoxicity, we administered ethanol (4.8 g/kg body wt in 4 ml of water) to rats through a gastric tube, then immediately injected endotoxin (2, 2.5, or 3 mg/kg body wt). In the rats pretreated with ethanol, the injection of 2 mg/kg body wt of endotoxin induced a slight rise of serum transaminase. However, when 2.5 mg/kg body wt of endotoxin was given, there were no significant histopathological or biochemical differences between the rats pretreated with ethanol and those pretreated with water. Moreover, there was no significant difference in mortality rates between the rats pretreated with ethanol and the controls when 3 mg/kg body wt (LD50) of endotoxin was injected. These results suggest that acute administration of alcohol enhances endotoxin hepatotoxicity when the dose of endotoxin is small, but that the effect of alcohol is masked when larger doses of endotoxin are given.