Effects of dietary fat on alcohol-pyrazole hepatitis in rats: the pathogenetic role of the nonalcohol dehydrogenase pathway in alcohol-induced hepatic cell injury.

Rats were fed with two different alcohol-containing (36% of total calories) liquid diets of high fat and low fat (35% and 15% of total calories) with or without 2 mM of pyrazole for 12 weeks. At the 12th week, the serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase level was significantly elevated in the alcohol-pyrazole high fat group, but not in the low fat group. Ballooning and necrotic changes of the hepatocytes in the centrolobular area were more prominent in the alcohol-pyrazole high fat group than in the low fat group and alcohol alone groups, indicating that high fat diet accelerates the development of alcohol-pyrazole hepatitis. In the alcohol-pyrazole high fat group, a decrease of hepatic microtubules content and an accumulation of hepatic export proteins in the hepatocytes were found. The protein accumulation was prominent only in the ballooned hepatocytes. Hepatic acetaldehyde levels were significantly higher in the alcohol-pyrazole high fat group than in the alcohol-pyrazole low fat group. These results suggest that the accelerated ethanol metabolism in the nonalcohol dehydrogenase pathway by a high fat diet may play an important role in the development of hepatocytic injuries, by impairing the microtubular function of the hepatocytes.