Acetaldehyde Metabolism Research Articles

The role of cellular oxidases and catalytic iron in the pathogenesis of ethanol-induced liver injury

Free radical generation and catalytic iron have been implicated in the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced liver injury but the source of free radicals is a subject of controversy. The mechanism of ethanol-induced liver injury was investigated in isolated hepatocytes from a rodent model of iron loading in which free radical generation was measured by the determination of alkane production (ethane and pentane). Iron loading (125mg/kg i.p.) increased hepatic non-heme iron 3-fold, increased the prooxidant activity of cytosolic ultrafiltrates 2-fold and doubled ethanol-induced alkane production. The addition of desferrioxamine (20μM), a tight chelator of iron, completely abolished alkane production indicating the importance of catalytic iron. The role of cellular oxidases as a source of ethanol induced free radicals was studied through the use of selective inhibitors. In both the presence and absence of iron loading, selective inhibition of xanthine oxidase with oxipurinol(20μM) diminished ethanol-induced alkane production 0–40%, inhibition of aldehyde oxidase with menadione (20μM) diminished alkane production 36–75%, while the inhibition of aldehyde and xanthine oxidase by feeding tungstate (100mg/kg/day) virtually abolished alkane production. Addition of acetaldehyde(50μM) to hepatocytes generated alkanes at rates comparable to those achieved with ethanol indicating the importance of acetaldehyde metabolism in free radical generation. The cellular oxidases (aldehyde and xanthine oxidase) along with catalytic iron play a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of free radical injury due to ethanol.

Acetaldehyde as a substrate for ethanol-inducible cytochrome P450 (CYP2E1)

Liver microsomes from starved and acetone-treated rats catalyzed NADPH-supported metabolism of acetaldehyde at a rate 8-fold higher than corresponding control microsomes; the V max was about 6 nmol/mg microsomal protein/min and the apparent K m 30 μM. The reaction was efficiently inhibited by anti-CYP2E1 IgG, but not by control IgG. Reconstituted membranes containing rat CYP2E1 and cytochrome b 5 metabolized acetaldehyde with a V max of 20 nmol/nmol/min and an apparent K m of 30 μM, whereas CYP2B4 containing vesicles or vesicles without b 5 were ineffective. Gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric analysis of products formed from [ 2H 4]-acetaldehyde with CYP2E1-containing reconstituted membrane vesicles revealed the formation of acetate as the only detectable product, although other water soluble products were also formed as evidenced from incubations with [1,2- 14C]acetaldehyde. The results indicate that CYP2E1 is an aldehyde oxidase and thus metabolizes both ethanol and its primary oxidation product. This might have implications in vivo for acetaldehyde metabolism in liver and brain.

Alcoholic liver disease in heterozygotes of mutant and normal aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 genes

To clarify the pathogenetic role of acetaldehyde in the development of alcoholic liver disease, genotyping of aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 genes was performed and the clinical features of the alcoholic liver disease patients with different genotypes were compared. Genotyping of aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 was performed in 47 patients with alcoholic liver disease using the polymerase chain reaction and slot-blot hybridization. Of the 47 patients with alcoholic liver disease, 40 were homozygous for the normal aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 gene and the remaining seven cases were heterozygous for the normal and mutant aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 genes. No homozygote was found for the mutant aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 genes. Daily alcohol intake was less than 100 gm in all heterozygotes without relation to the type of alcoholic liver disease. On the other hand, all but four patients homozygotic for the normal aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 gene drank more than 100 gm alcohol/day. The mean daily alcohol intake in the heterozygotes was significantly lower than that in the normal homozygotes. The incidence of alcoholic fibrosis tended to be lower in the heterozygotes than in the normal homozygotes (14.2% vs. 52.5%). On the other hand, the incidence of alcoholic hepatitis and/or cirrhosis tended to be higher in the heterozygotes than in the normal homozygotes. These results indicate that alcoholic liver disease develops even with moderate amounts of alcohol intake in heterozygotes of the aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 genes, in which acetaldehyde metabolism in the liver is impaired and liver damage in the heterozygotes is more severe than that in the normal homozygotes, suggesting that habitual drinkers who are heterozygotes of the aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 genes may be at high risk for alcoholic liver disease.

Metabolism of ethanol by rat hepatocytes results in generation of a lipid chemotactic factor: Studies using a cell-free system and role of oxygen-derived free radicals

We have reported that liver cells metabolizing ethanol release a lipid that has chemotactic activity for human polymorphonuclear leukocytes. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of ethanol and of oxygen-derived free radicals in generation of this activity. A cell-free, ethanol-metabolizing system consisting of rat liver cytosol was found to generate a polar lipid which possessed a chemotactic activity identical to the activity from intact cells. The importance of acetaldehyde in this process was established by the findings that (i) an inhibitor of the metabolism of ethanol to acetaldehyde, 4-methylpyrazole, blocked production of the chemotactic lipid; (ii) acetaldehyde could substitute for ethanol; and (iii) cytosol alone incubated with ethanol in the absence of mitochondrial acetaldehyde metabolism generated the activity. Acetaldehyde can serve as a substrate for cytosolic oxidases in reactions that generate radicals (e.g., superoxide anion) which have been shown to attack unsaturated lipids to yield lipid hydroperoxides. When scavengers of oxygen-derived free radicals (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and dimethylsulfoxide) were added to the ethanol-metabolizing system they prevented generation of the activity. The data are consistent with a mechanism of chemotactic factor generation by ethanolmetabolizing liver cytosol in which acetaldehyde causes formation of oxygen-derived free radicals that attack unsaturated cytosolic lipid to generate a polar chemotactic compound.

Acetaldehyde Metabolism in Different Aldehyde Dehydrogenase‐2 Genotypes

In order to clarify the relationships between acetaldehyde (Ac-CHO) metabolism and low Km (mitochondrial) aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2) genotypes, hepatic ALDH2 activity was determined and serial changes of blood Ac-CHO levels after ethanol administration were analyzed in the individuals homozygous for the normal ALDH2 genes, heterozygous for the normal and mutant ALDH2 genes, and homozygous for the mutant ALDH2 genes. Genomic DNA was extracted from white blood cells and genotyping of ALDH2 was performed using the polymerase chain reaction technique and slot blot hybridization with synthesized oligonucleotide probes specific to the normal and mutant ALDH2 genes. ALDH2 activity was not detectable in the liver in two cases of the mutant homozygote. In four out of eight cases of the heterozygote, hepatic ALDH2 activity was measurable, although the activity was lower compared with that in the normal homozygote. Blood ethanol levels after alcohol administration were not different among the three different ALDH2 genotypes. Blood Ac-CHO levels after drinking of alcohol were significantly higher in the heterozygotes and the mutant homozygotes than in the normal homozygotes. The levels after a moderate amount of ethanol (0.8 g/kg of body weight) in a case of the mutant homozygote were not different from those of the heterozygotes. However, the levels after a small amount of ethanol (0.1 g/kg of body weight) were significantly higher in the mutant homozygotes than in the heterozygotes. These results indicate that hepatic ALDH2 activity is lacking completely, and metabolism of Ac-CHO in the liver is severely impaired in the homozygotes of the mutant ALDH2 genes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Ethanol and acetaldehyde metabolism in cultured hepatocytes from chronic alcoholic rats

In this study the authors analyzed ethanol (Et-OH) and acetaldehyde (Ac-CHO) metabolism in cultured hepatocytes isolated from chronic alcoholic rats. Hepatocytes were isolated and cultured from two groups of rats, one was fed with a liquid diet containing Et-OH and another was pair-fed with a control diet for 4 weeks. After 48 hours of the primary culture, Et-OH was added to the culture medium at a final concentration of 5 mM with or without 2 mM 4-methyl pyrazole (Py). Serial changes of Et-OH and Ac-CHO levels in the medium for 48 hours were determined in 4 groups of the alcohol alone, alcohol-Py, control and control-Py groups. In the alcohol alone and control groups, Et-OH disappearance rates (EDR), which are roughly equivalent to Et-OH oxidation rates in the hepatocytes, were significantly higher than those in the corresponding Py treated groups. In the two alcoholic groups, the EDR was significantly higher than those in the corresponding control groups. In cultured hepatocytes, 75-80% of Ac-CHO produced from Et-OH was oxidized. The increasing rates of Ac-CHO (AcICR), a function of Ac-CHO production and oxidation rates in the hepatocytes, increased in parallel with the increase in the EDR. However, the AcICR/EDR rate, which is a parameter of the Ac-CHO oxidation rate in the hepatocytes, was not different among the 4 groups. These results indicate that the cultured cells maintain the characteristics of Et-OH metabolism in chronic alcoholic rats and may also be used for the study of Et-OH and Ac-CHO metabolism as an in vitro model.

Acetaldehyde metabolism by isolated hepatic mitochondria from rats consuming different amounts of ethanol

We have previously reported that in rats, ethanol intake as low as 4 g/kg per day induced mitochondrial alterations, detected by a decrease in mitochondrial O 2 uptake supported by substrates entering at the three sites of coupled phosphorylation. Since it has been reported that acetaldehyde oxidation occurs mainly inside the mitochondria, linked to the respiration chain, the effect of daily previous administration of low doses of ethanol during a month, on the acetaldehyde oxidation rate by intact rat liver mitochondria was studied. Determination of acetaldehyde oxidation rate and O 2 uptake accompanying acetaldehyde removal by liver mitochondria indicates that the mean value of these parameters studied in rats consuming low amount of ethanol (0.5—3.0 g/kg per day) was significantly higher than that of controls drinking only water ( P<0.001, in state 3, and P<0.05, in state 4). This enhancing effect of ethanol cannot be ascribed to an uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation and also not to a change in aldehyde dehydrogenase activity which was measured in disrupted mitochondria. On the other hand, high ethanol consumption (4–7 g/kg per day), which alters mitochondrial function, did not decrease mitochondrial acetaldehyde oxidation, as compared to rats drinking water only. This result differs from the decrease induced by higher levels of previous ethanol intake (12–14 g/kg per day) as reported by several authors, showing that possibly this effect is dose dependent.

STUDIES WITH cDNA PROBES ON THE &lt;italic&gt;IN VIVO&lt;/italic&gt; EFFECT OF ETHANOL ON EXPRESSION OF THE GENES OF ALCOHOL METABOLISM

Mice (Mus musculus) from three genetic strains with variable responses to ethanol challenge (BALB/c, C57BL/6J and 129/ReJ) were used to evaluate the effect of ethanol feeding on hepatic mRNA specific to the two primary enzymes of ethanol metabolism; alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH; E.C. 1.1.1.1) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH; E.C. 1.2.1.3). Adh-1 (ADH) and Ahd-2 (ALDH) specific mRNA were evaluated on the livers of ethanol-fed mice and from their age, sex and genotype matched controls (using an isocaloric liquid diet). C57BL/6J (alcohol resistant) mice show a significant (approx. 200%) increase in ADH-1 mRNA levels after ethanol treatment, compared to their matched controls. BALB/c (alcohol sensitive) mice have approximately a 20% increase with ethanol treatment while 129/ReJ (alcohol sensitive) mice show a slight reduction in the ADH-1 specific mRNA following ethanol feeding. A strain-specific pattern is also apparent in the AHD-2 mRNA as a result of ethanol feeding in the experimental animals. C57BL/6J mice have an increase and BALB/c mice show no apparent change in the AHD-2 mRNA. 129/ReJ mice fed an ethanol diet, on the other hand, appear to have a decrease in the level of AHD-2 hepatic mRNA as compared to their matched controls. The relative mRNA levels of the two genes correlate well with the respective enzyme activity levels, but for mice on the control diet only. Ethanol feeding, which causes an apparent reduction in hepatic ADH enzyme activity in BALB/c and 129/ReJ and an apparent increase in ALDH activity in C57BL/6J (under the experimental protocols used) also alters the mRNA levels specific to the two genes. However, changes in the mRNA levels after ethanol feeding cannot be directly related to the changes seen in enzyme activity. The observed steady state level of AHD-2 mRNA and the increase in ALDH activity after ethanol feeding, which is unique to C57BL/6J mice, is expected to offer a faster clearance (metabolism) of acetaldehyde, the toxic metabolite, and may be responsible for, or contribute to, the relative resistance of this strain to ethanol.

The role of aldehyde oxidase in ethanol-induced hepatic lipid peroxidation in the rat

Hepatic lipid peroxidation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced liver injury, but the mechanism(s) by which ethanol metabolism or resultant free radicals initiate lipid peroxidation is not fully defined. The role of the molybdenum-containing enzymes aldehyde oxidase and xanthine oxidase in the generation of such free radicals was investigated by measuring alkane production (lipoperoxidation products) in isolated rat hepatocytes during ethanol metabolism. Inhibition of aldehyde oxidase and xanthine oxidase (by feeding tungstate at 100 mg/day per kg) decreased alkane production (80-95%), whereas allopurinol (20 mg/kg by mouth), a marked inhibitor of xanthine oxidase, inhibited alkane production by only 35-50%. Addition of acetaldehyde (0-100 microM) (in the presence of 50 microM-4-methylpyrazole) increased alkane production in a dose-dependent manner (Km of aldehyde oxidase for acetaldehyde 1 mM); menadione, an inhibitor of aldehyde oxidase, virtually inhibited alkane production. Desferrioxamine (5-10 microM) completely abolished alkane production induced by both ethanol and acetaldehyde, indicating the importance of catalytic iron. Thus free radicals generated during the metabolism of acetaldehyde by aldehyde oxidase may be a fundamental mechanism in the initiation of alcohol-induced liver injury.

DNA cleavage during ethanol metabolism: Role of superoxide radicals and catalytic iron

The generation of superoxide and related free radicals and the mobilization of catalytic iron due to ethanol metabolism have been suggested as mechanisms of alcohol-induced liver injury as well as of the increased risk of cancer observed in alcoholics. Cleavage of double stranded DNA is produced by both free radicals as well as by catalytic iron. The effects of ethanol metabolism on DNA cleavage were therefore studied in vitro as well as in vivo in isolated hepatocytes. Intactness of double stranded DNA was studied by measuring ethidium bromide fluorescence after DNA electrophoresis. In vitro , the metabolism of acetaldehyde by aldehyde oxidase caused cleavage of Lambda phage DNA. Cleavage was inhibited by both superoxide dismutase and desferrioxamine indicating the role of superoxide radicals and catalytic iron respectively. Studies with HIND III digests of the Lambda phage indicate a lack of specificity in the breaks with respect to nucleotide sequences. Addition of EDTA greatly enhanced cleavage. In vivo , ethanol metabolism caused minimal breakage in hepatocyte DNA and addition of acetaldehyde (100μM) markedly enhanced cleavage; all cleavage was inhibited by desferrioxamine. Themetabolism of ethanol to acetaldehyde and the further metabolism of acetaldehyde by aldehyde oxidase generates free radicals and mobilizes iron; these may contribute to alcohol-induced injury and carcinogenesis.

IN VIVO ACCELERATED ACETALDEHYDE METABOLISM USING ACETALDEHYDE DEHYDROGENASE-LOADED ERYTHROCYTES

Human erythrocytes were loaded with homogeneous acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (AcDH) purified from Alcaligenes Eutrophus (an enzyme species with an apparent Km for acetaldehyde similar to the mitochondrial enzyme), using an encapsulation procedure based on hypotonic haemolysis, isotonic resealing and reannealing. The AcDH-overloaded erythrocytes contained 1.55 +/- 0.25 I.U. of AcDH activity per ml of packed erythrocytes, a value 12-15 times higher than that of corresponding unloaded or native red cells. The AcDH-loaded erythrocytes were found to metabolize 4 +/- 0.8 mumol of acetaldehyde/hr/ml of red blood cells, whereas the glycolytic activity was almost unmodified. Estimates of intracellular adenine nucleotides showed 50% ATP decay in the AcDH-loaded cells when incubated in the presence of acetaldehyde concentrations higher than 50 microM, whereas the [NAD+]/[NADH] ratio was strongly decreased but to the same extent as in control cells, suggesting that this was due to the acetaldehyde itself and not to the presence of encapsulated AcDH. Similar results were obtained using mouse erythrocytes. AcDH-overloaded mouse red blood cells from donor animals were also injected intraperitoneally into compatible recipients (Balb/C) and 80 to 85% of these were found to enter into circulation within 24 hr and to circulate with a half-life of 6-7.3 days (normal half-life 11 days). Following an acute dose of ethanol (2g/kg intraperitoneally), blood levels of acetaldehyde were significantly lower in mice receiving the AcDH-loaded erythrocytes than in controls. Blood levels of ethanol were also lower in the treated mice compared to controls. These results show that AcDH-overloaded erythrocytes can perform in vitro and in vivo as bioreactors improving alcohol and acetaldehyde metabolism, and suggest that administration of these cells to alcoholic patients could be of value in restoring to normal, or improving, alcohol and acetaldehyde metabolism.

Developmental profile of hepatic alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase activities in long-sleep and short-sleep mice

Ethanol is metabolized primarily in the liver by a cytosolic alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). The product, acetaldehyde, is metabolized to acetate by nonspecific aldehyde dehydrogenases (AHD). Mouse liver contains five major constitutive AHD isoenzymes: mitochondrial high K m (AHD-1), mitochondrial low K m (AHD-5), cytosolic high K m (AHD-7), cytosolic low K m (AHD-2) and microsomal high K m (AHD-3). The Long-Sleep (LS) and Short-Sleep (SS) mice differ in their sleep time response to ethanol as early as 10 days of age, and this difference increases with increasing age. Age- and genotype-related differences in metabolism could account for the pattern of responses seen in these mice. We measured the activity of hepatic ADH and the five AHD isoenzymes in LS and SS mice from 3 days of age to adulthood to determine if there were differences in the developmental profiles of these enzyme activities. We found no sex differences in the developmental profile of either ADH or AHD, and the LS and SS mice have nearly identical ADH and AHD activities with the possible exception of the high K m mitochondrial enzyme activity between days 3 and 6, and the low K m mitochondrial enzyme between days 28 and 32. Thus, it appears that differences in ethanol or acetaldehyde metabolism do not contribute significantly to the differential sensitivity to ethanol between young LS and SS mice or to the differential sensitivity between young and adult mice.

THE GENESIS OF ALCOHOLIC BRAIN TISSUE INJURY

1. Acetaldehyde has been implicated in the pathogenesis of alcohol-related liver damage by two mechanisms. Adduct formation with many tissue constituents, especially proteins, makes them immunologically foreign or reduces enzyme activity and formation of cytotoxic free radicals from acetaldehyde metabolism. Adduct formation damage to microtubule associated proteins and to hepatocyte membranes impedes protein movement into, out of and around the cell. 2. Evidence that these mechanisms also have a role in alcoholic brain damage includes raised blood acetaldehyde in alcoholics, especially in those chemically dependent, or in other abnormal states; effects of extra-hepatic free radical toxicity, including induction of superoxide dismutase activity and damaged, abnormal variants of the thiamin-dependent enzyme transketolase and extrahepatic acetaldehyde-adduct formation with haemoglobin. That acetaldehyde-mediated impairment of microtubule systems also damages the brain is suggested by its importance for the maintenance by protein transport of often greatly extended brain cell processes. 3. Oxygen-derived free radicals can damage brain tissue, the effects including cerebral oedema, neuronal loss and damage to the blood-brain barrier, all changes also reported in the brains from alcoholic patients. Alcohol-related pathology in the brain differing from that in the liver, shows sharper regional variations in vulnerability and adverse effects due to nutritional deficiencies, especially of B-group vitamins. Even though some such deficits are capable of causing encephalopathy in the non-alcoholic, the strong association between them and chronic alcoholism points to possible aggravation by metabolic interactions at various levels between acetaldehyde and thiamin or other B-vitamins. Selective regional vulnerability may reflect differences in ease of acetaldehyde access or to important metabolic differences. Alteration of animal behaviour by acetaldehyde points to a need to correlate clinical evidence of acetaldehyde central nervous cytotoxicity with the incidence of different types of cognitive defect.

Leu-enkephalin, tamoxifen and ethanol interactions: Effects on motility and hepatic ethanol metabolizing enzymes

1. 1. Short-term treatment with tamoxifen (a nonsteroidal antiestrogen) decreased mouse spontaneous locomotor activity compared to controls. 2. 2. Short-term pretreatment with tamoxifen prior to an acute sedative dose of ethanol potentiated ethanol-medicated behavioral depression in the mouse. 3. 3. Injection of a small dose of Leu-enkephalin, which is devoid of effect on mouse motility, prior to an acute sedative dose of ethanol to tamoxifen pretreated female mice counteracted ethanol-produced suppression of motor activity. 4. 4. Mouse liver aldehyde dehydrogenase was inhibited by the short-term administration of tamoxifen when given alone or preceding acute dosages of Leu-enkephalin. Concomitantly, there was an increase in blood plasma ethanol concentration from corresponding control. 5. 5. The results of the behavioral performance test used suggest that tamoxifen possesses depressant property and exerts synergestic effect with Leu-enkephalin in antagonizing ethanol-produced behavioral depression in the mouse. 6. 6. The enzymatic part of the study indicates an adverse metabolic influence by tamoxifen on hepatic metabolism of ethanol-derived acetaldehyde which could contribute to the potentiation of the sedative effect of ethanol.

Ethanol-induced iron mobilization: Role of acetaldehyde-aldehyde oxidase generated superoxide

Superoxide radicals, a species known to mobilize ferritin iron, and their interaction with catalytic iron have been implicated in the pathogenesis of alcohol-induced liver injury. The mechanism(s) by which ethanol metabolism generates free radicals and mobilizes catalytic iron, however, is not fully defined. In this investigation the role of hepatic aldehyde oxidase in the mobilization of catalytic iron from ferritin was studied in vitro. Iron mobilization due to the metabolism of ethanol to acetaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase was increased 100% by the addition of aldehyde oxidase. Iron release was favored by low pH and low oxygen concentration. Mobilization of iron due to acetaldehyde metabolism by aldehyde oxidase was completely inhibited by superoxide dismutase but not by catalase suggesting that superoxide radicals mediate mobilization. Acetaldehyde-aldehyde oxidase mediated reduction of ferritin iron was facilitated by incubation with menadione, an electron acceptor for aldehyde oxidase. Mobilization of ferritin iron due to the metabolism of acetaldehyde by aldehyde oxidase may be a fundamental mechanism of alcohol-induced liver injury.

Influence of Aging on Ethanol and Acetaldehyde Oxidation in Female Rat Liver

Rates of ethanol metabolism by alcohol dehydrogenase, the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS), and catalase were similar in liver preparations from young (4-5 months) and old (24-27 months) female Fischer 344 rats. On the other hand, rates of acetaldehyde metabolism by mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) were 15-20% lower in livers of old rats than in those of younger ones. Results with the ALDH inhibitor cyanamide indicated that a decline in ALDH activity of this magnitude would not increase acute ethanol hepatotoxicity.

Studies on the mechanism of acetaldehyde-mediated inhibition of aspartate aminotransferase (GOT) in human erythrocytes

The mechanism of acetaldehyde-mediated GOT inhibition was studied in human red cells. In the GOT assay mix, acetaldehyde competitively inhibits activation of apoGOT by pyridoxal phosphate and pyridoxamine phosphate. However, K i values are 100–1000 times greater than K m values for these B6 vitamers. Moreover, incubation of undiluted lysates with acetaldehyde at 37° inhibits GOT activity without increasing apoGOT levels and without altering affinity of apoGOT for either B6 coenzyme. In undiluted lysates, inhibition is not prevented by disulfiram. However, incubation at 4° prevents both acetaldehyde metabolism and GOT inhibition while preincubation with NaF prevents GOT inhibition without affecting acetaldehyde disappearance. The effect of NaF is completely reversed by pyruvate but only partially reversed by NADH. Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, the only glycolytic intermediate which directly inhibits GOT, does not reverse the NaF effect. Thus, inhibition of GOT by acetaldehyde (a) requires nonoxidative metabolism of acetaldehyde and (b) is not mediated either by glycolytic substrates or by impaired binding of B6 vitamers to the GOT apoenzyme. Since NaF had no effect on a lysate deficient in glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, the hexose monophosphate shunt may play a role in acetaldehyde-mediated GOT inhibition.

Inhibition of rat liver transaminases by low levels of acetaldehyde and the pharmacologic effects of B 6 vitamers

To better define the significance and mechanism of acetaldehyde-mediated transaminase inhibition, acetaldehyde metabolism was studied in rat liver homogenates and cytosols. When either preparation was incubated at 37° with 1.5 mM acetaldehyde for 4 hr, acetaldehyde levels fell rapidly in the first 30 min and little inhibition of aspartate aminotransferase (GOT) or alanine aminotransferase (GPT) resulted. In contrast, incubation with 50 mM ethanol also resulted in a peak acetaldehyde level of 1.0 to 1.5 mM by 2 hr, but this level was then maintained for the next 2 hr and transaminases were inhibited by 20–35%. Sequential addition of low dose (125–250 μM) pulses of acetaldehyde to rat liver preparations resulted in a progressive decrease in the rate of acetaldehyde disappearance. When the pulsing schedule was adjusted accordingly to maintain acetaldehyde levels between 50 and 250 μm for 8 hr, transaminases were again inhibited by 20–40%. Finally, addition of 1–5 mM pyridoxal and pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, aldehydic B 6 vitamers, to cytosols 2–4 hr after pulsing with acetaldehyde was begun, almost completely prevented further transaminase inhibition. In contrast, the non-aldehydic B 6 vitamers, pyridoxine, pyridoxamine and pyridoxamine 5'-phosphate, did not affect acetaldehyde-mediated transaminase inhibition. These findings suggest that (1) prolonged exposure to low levels of acetaldehyde impairs acetaldehyde metabolism in rat liver homogenates and cytosols; (2) acetaldehyde toxicity may be more dependent on sustained exposure to acetaldehyde than on the peak level of acetaldehyde attained; and (3) aldehydic B 6 vitamers can modify on-going acetaldehyde-mediated transaminase inhibition.

Effect of leucine enkephalin on ethanol produced behavioral depression in the mouse

The effect of leucine enkephalin (LNK) on spontaneous locomotor activity was studied in mice of both sexes. The effect of a depressant dose of ethanol (ET) on LNK-mediated response on motility was also studied. In addition, the determination of specific activities of the hepatic enzymes primarily involved in the metabolism of ET and acetaldehyde was studied. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isoenzymes were also assayed in both plasma and heart tissues. Intraperitoneal injection of LNK, 100 mg/kg, exerted behavioral depression in the male but not female mouse compared to controls. This effect was apparent for the initial 30 min posttreatment. Injection of two smaller doses of LNK, which were devoid of effect on mouse motility, prior to a depressant dose of ET counteracted ET-caused depression of motility only in the female mouse. This became apparent 30 min postdrug injection and lasted for 60 min thereafter. The LNK and ET treatment inhibited only male mouse liver aldehyde dehydrogenase in both cytoplasmic and mitochondrial preparations concomitant with reduction of plasma but not heart LDH 1 isoenzyme from corresponding controls. The results suggest that LNK and ET affect different systems involved in behavioral depression tested and show a potential for LNK in antagonizing the ET effect studied. The data also indicate a sex-dependent effect of LNK on motility and of its interaction with ethanol on the enzymes studied.

Enkephalins, their constituents and voluntary drinking of ethanol by the rat

The relationship between the neuropeptides leu-enkephalin, met-enkephalin, kentsin (a contraceptive tetrapeptide) and ethanol was studied in the male rat. This was pursued by assessing the effect of these peptides and some of their amino acid constituents on voluntary drinking of ethanol by rats with preference to alcohol intake. The in vitro effect of some of kentsin amino acids constituents on rat liver alcohol and aldehyde dehydrogenase was also studied. Intraperitoneal injection of leu-enkephalin, but not met-enkephalin, produced a delayed increase in voluntary ethanol drinking by the rat. Injection of identical doses of kentsin produced a much lesser effect than the leu-enkephalin treatment. The separate or combined treatment with phenylalanine and leucine, resulted in decreased voluntary consumption of ethanol. Coadministration of glycine or tyrosine alone or both combined did not influence ethanol drinking. Coadministration of tyrosine or glycine with leucine negated the leucine effect on ethanol drinking. Both L-arginine and L-proline, the two amino acids component of kentsin, decreased the specific activity of rat liver mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase in vitro at 10 −3 mol concentration. The results suggest an interrelationship between the peptides studied and ethanol preference. The data also indicates that some of kentsin action on ethanol drinking may be related to the effect of some of its degradation product on hepatic ethanol-derived acetaldehyde metabolism and/or may be related to the endocrine property of kentsin.