Effect of Chronic Ethanol Feeding on Hepatic and Extrahepatic Distribution of Vitamin E in Rats.

The effect of chronic ethanol feeding on the status of α- and γ- tocopherol in plasma, liver, lung, and testes of Sprague-Dawley rats was characterized. Rats were pair-fed liquid diets containing 36% of total calories either as ethanol or isocaloric carbohydrates. After 3 weeks, ethanol ingestion resulted in a significant ( p≤ 0.05) increase in liver weight and induced fatty liver without affecting total body weight. Ethanol feeding did not affect the plasma concentration of α-tocopherol but doubled that of γ-tocopherol. When expressed per milligram of tissue, liver α-tocopherol did not vary with ethanol ingestion, whereas γ-tocopherol concentration increased 2.5 times that of control animals. However, the concentration of α-tocopherol expressed per milligram of total lipids was significantly ( p≤ 0.01) decreased in the liver with ethanol feeding. In contrast to the liver, ethanol feeding significantly increased α- and γ-tocopherol levels per milligram of total lipids in the testes. The concentration of γ- tocopherol (but not α-tocopherol) per milligram of lung tissue and per total lung was significantly ( p≤ 0.05) increased with ethanol feeding. These data indicate that chronic ethanol ingestion significantly alters the distribution of α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol in hepatic and extrahepatic tissues of the rat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]