Skeletal muscle and liver oxysterols during fasting and alcohol exposure

Oxysterols are cytotoxic agents that have a range of cellular actions, including impairment of albumin synthesis, cell differentiation, and induction of apoptosis. Their regulations by nutritional factors are poorly described. Our objective was to test the hypothesis that the imposition of food withdrawal and alcohol exposure increases tissue oxysterol concentrations. We measured the concentrations of the oxysterols 7alpha-hydroxycholest-5-en-3beta-ol (7alpha-OH), 7beta-hydroxycholest-5-en-3beta-ol (7beta-OH), and 3beta-hydroxycholest-5-en-7-one (7-keto) in liver and skeletal muscle of fed and fasted (food withdrawal for 1 and 2 days) male Wistar rats. Both oxidative (type I; soleus) and glycolytic (type II; plantaris) muscles were analyzed. We also investigated the effects of a nutritional perturbant induced by a short-term bolus of ethanol (75 mmol/kg weight IP administered 2.5 hours before sacrifice). The results showed that in response to fasting there were significant increases in 7alpha-OH, 7beta-OH, and 7-keto in liver and both type I and II skeletal muscle (P < .001 in all instances). For skeletal muscle, the increases were blunted or ameliorated after 2 days when compared with data from rats starved for 1 day. In contrast, the increases in liver after 1 day's fasting were relatively sustained at 2 days. Short-term ethanol increased 7alpha-OH, 7beta-OH, and 7-keto in type I muscle of fed animals only (P < .001 in all instances) with a significant interaction between fasting and alcohol (P < .001 in all instances). For the first time, we have shown that oxysterols can increase in muscle and liver in response to food withdrawal and in response to an immediately imposed nutritional perturbant (ie, alcohol). Increased oxysterols represent elevated oxidative stress and/or disturbances in their formation or clearance. Because of the reported cytotoxic properties of oxysterols, these data are important in understanding cellular pathology because episodic anorexia and/or oxidative stress occur in a variety of disease conditions including sepsis, cancer cachexia, ischemia, and hormonal imbalance.