Effects of ethanol feeding on the activity and regulation of hepatic carnitine palmitoyltransferase I.

The effects of ethanol administration on activity and regulation of carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT-I) were studied in hepatocytes isolated from rats fed a liquid, high-fat diet containing 36% of total calories as ethanol or an isocaloric amount of sucrose. Cells were isolated at several time points in the course of a 5-week experimental period. Ethanol consumption markedly decreased CPT-I activity and increased enzyme sensitivity to inhibition by exogenously added malonyl-CoA. Changes in enzyme activity occurred sooner than those in enzyme sensitivity. Fatty acid oxidation to CO2 and ketone bodies was depressed in hepatocytes from ethanol-fed animals during the first part of the treatment. At the end of the 35-day period, there were no longer differences in the rate of ketogenesis between the two groups. At that time, however, the rate of CO2 formation was still impaired in the ethanol-fed animals. Furthermore, addition of ethanol or acetaldehyde to the incubation medium strongly depressed CPT-I activity and rates of fatty acid oxidation in hepatocytes from ethanol-treated rats, whereas these effects were much less pronounced in cells from control animals. The response of CPT-I activity to insulin, glucagon, vasopressin, and phorbol ester was blunted in cells derived from ethanol-fed rats. These changes in the regulation of CPT-I activity corresponded with those observed in the rate of fatty acid oxidation. It is concluded that CPT-I may play a role in the generation of the ethanol-induced fatty liver.