Effects of acute administration of chlorinated water on liver lipids.

An acute administration of chlorinated water to rats caused "fatty liver" and indicated a more than 2-fold increase in liver triacylglycerols at 2 days after administration. The acyl group composition of triacylglycerols and phospholipids in both liver mitochondria and liver whole homogenate were also altered by the chlorine treatment. Among the phospholipid acyl groups, there was an increase in the proportion of 20:4 but a decrease in most other polyunsaturated acyl groups. The acyl group changes were more obvious with phosphatidylcholines than with phosphatidylethanolamines. Other phospholipids, including cardiolipin in the mitochondrial membranes, were not greatly altered. Both morphological and biochemical changes were maximum at 2 days after the treatment and were fully recovered after 10 days. The disturbance of a number of enzymatic processes in the liver membranes may account for a large part of the changes observed.