Evaluation of the Differential in Vivo Toxic Effects of Ethanol and Acetaldehyde on the Hypothalamic‐Pituitary‐Gonadal Axis Using 4‐Methylpyrazole

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
4-Methylpyrazole (4-MP) blocked ethanol (ETOH) oxidation by inhibiting alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). Because ADH has been identified and shown to be active in the testes, the effect of ETOH + 4-MP in the ETOH-fed rat model was examined. Weanling rats were divided into 4 groups of 15 rats each and fed a liquid diet: group 1 received ETOH (5% vol/vol) + 4-MP (1.34 mM); group 2 was pair-fed the diet containing only 4-MP and isocalorically matched to group 1; group 3 received ETOH diet; and group 4 was pair-fed isocalorically to match group 3. Using 2 way analysis of variance for nonorthogonal data, the results were analyzed to examine ETOH and 4-MP as the main treatment and to test for interaction. ETOH and 4-MP produced significant main treatment effects with significant interaction on liver/body ratio, testes weight expressed as percent of normal and plasma luteinizing hormone levels, and without interaction on plasma testosterone concentrations.