Alcohol-induced lipid change in th lung.

Quantities and qualities of lipids in lung lavage and lavaged lung tissue were studied in ethanol-fed male Sprague-Dawley rats. Experimental rats received 36% of daily energy as ethanol for 7 weeks and each control rat, receiving an isocaloric amount of sucrose, was pair-fed with an experimental rat. Body weight gain and lung protein content in these two groups were similar. The mean lung dry weight of ethanol-fed rats as compared to controls was significantly elevated. The quantity of phosphatidylcholine (PC), a key surfactant lipid, recovered from lung lavage of ethanol-fed rats was double that of controls, but the proportion of palmitate in its fatty acids was reduced. The content of cholesterol and cholesteryl ester in lung lavage of ethanol-fed rats was nearly twice that of controls but the content of triglyceride was not different. The quantity and quality of PC in lung tissue were not significantly different between these two groups. Triglyceride content of lung tissue in ethanol-fed rats was nearly three times that of controls. Ethanol increased the proportion of oleic and decreased the relative amount of palmitic, palmitoleic, and linoleic acids in triglycerides of lung tissue.