Dietary carbohydrate level determines the effect of long-term ethanol ingestion on rat pancreatic amylase content

We studied the effects of long-term ethanol feeding on pancreatic amylase content in the rat. Because the level of pancreatic amylase depends on the carbohydrate content in the diet, the effects of ethanol ingestion were investigated at different levels of dietary carbohydrate, with fat providing the balance of calories. Animals were maintained on these diets for 3 weeks. In control animals, a reduction in carbohydrate from 47% to 11% of total calories lowered pancreatic amylase content by 60% (from 76.1 +/- 7 U/mg protein to 30.6 U/mg protein). However, in rats that consumed 11% of total calories as carbohydrate, long-term ethanol ingestion (36% of total calories) lowered the amylase content by a further 60% (from 30.6 U/mg protein to 11.8 U/mg protein). By contrast, when the dietary carbohydrate level was maintained at a high (40%) level, long-term ethanol ingestion slightly increased pancreatic amylase content. Pancreatic lipase was not affected by long-term ethanol ingestion at either low (6%) or high (35%) levels of fat. The reduction in the level of amylase caused by ethanol feeding with a low dietary carbohydrate intake was not associated with changes in the fasting blood levels of glucose, insulin, or glucagon. Long-term ethanol ingestion did not lead to morphologic changes in the acini or in the size, shape, or number of granules, as observed by light and electron microscopy. These results suggest that long-term ethanol ingestion has differential effects on pancreatic amylase, depending on the level of carbohydrate in the diet.