Extent of retention of 2-monoglyceride backbone of diet fat in alcohol-induced fatty liver.

This study was carried out to determine whether hepatic triglyceride (TG) synthesis is a major determinant in the development of fatty liver induced by chronic ethanol ingestion. For this purpose, the degree to which the 2-monoglyceride (MG) backbone of dietary fat was retained in the accumulated TG of fatty liver was examined. Triglycerides were isolated from diet and from the liver and plasma of rats maintained for four weeks on a Lieber-DeCarli liquid ethanol diet. Pancreatic lipase hydrolysis of the TG from these three sources was carried out and the MG produced was analyzed for the fatty acid composition. Almost all of TG in fatty liver and that released to plasma retained the MG structure which originated from diet fat. This result demonstrates that the de novo glyceride synthesis or transacylation reactions do not have a major role in the production of TG in alcohol-induced fatty liver.