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 alpha- and gamma-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 less than or equal to 0.05) increase in liver weight and induced fatty liver without affecting total body weight. Ethanol feeding did not affect the plasma concentration of alpha-tocopherol but doubled that of gamma-tocopherol. When expressed per milligram of tissue, liver alpha-tocopherol did not vary with ethanol ingestion, whereas gamma-tocopherol concentration increased 2.5 times that of control animals. However, the concentration of alpha-tocopherol expressed per milligram of total lipids was significantly (p less than or equal to 0.01) decreased in the liver with ethanol feeding. In contrast to the liver, ethanol feeding significantly increased alpha- and gamma-tocopherol levels per milligram of total lipids in the testes. The concentration of gamma-tocopherol (but not alpha-tocopherol) per milligram of lung tissue and per total lung was significantly (p less than or equal to 0.05) increased with ethanol feeding. These data indicate that chronic ethanol ingestion significantly alters the distribution of alpha-tocopherol and gamma-tocopherol in hepatic and extrahepatic tissues of the rat.