Ethanol Ingestion and Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: Effects on the Acyl‐CoA Desaturases

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Abstract
The ingestion of ethanol results in altered compositions of the polyenoic fatty acids in a variety of liver and brain membranes. A possible cause for these alterations in hepatic endoplasmic reticulum membranes has been studied by measuring the .DELTA.9, .DELTA.6 and .DELTA.5 acyl-CoA desaturase activities in hepatic microsomes from chronically or acutely treated rats. Chronically, ethanol decreased all 3 enzyme activities with the following order of sensitivity: .DELTA.6 (65%), .DELTA.9 (54%) and .DELTA.5 (46%). All 3 desaturase activities were affected after 1 day of ethanol feeding. NADPH- and NADH-cytochrome c reductase activities were reduced in chronically treated rats, and the NADH-cytochrome c reductase was decreased in the acutely treated. These reduced enzyme activities could not account for the decrease in desaturase activities due to the very marked differences between the specific activities of these enzymes compared to the desaturase. Changes in membrane polyenoic fatty acid composition can be the result of ethanol-induced decreases in the terminal desaturase enzymes.

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