Effect of prolonged ethanol intake on pancreatic lipids in the rat pancreas

Although fat accumulation in acinar cells is the earliest histopathological change in the pancreas of patients and experimental animals, there are few long-term studies regarding lipid composition of the pancreas in alcoholism. In the present study, female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups each fed Wayne Rodent-Blox ad libitum or Lieber-DeCarli diet with 36% of maltose dextrin calories replaced with ethanol ad libitum, or isocaloric amounts of liquid diet for a period of 21 months resulting in changes of chronic pancreatitis in ethanol-fed rats. A low level of triglycerides, a high level of cholesterol ester and moderately elevated phospholipids, low incorporation of [14C]palmitoyl in triglycerides, increased 14C activity in phospholipids, and cholesterol ester were found by thin-layer chromatography in ethanol-fed rats. These data indicate that the pancreas synthesized triglycerides and other lipid components in the same way as liver and fat cells. Chronic ethanol ingestion caused marked changes in pancreatic lipid metabolism due to altered enzyme activities involved in the lipid pathways.