Effect of ethanol on turpentine-induced acute phase response in rats

Turpentine-induced acute-phase response and its modulation by ethanol in rats at 48 hr has been studied. There was more than 2.3-5.1 fold increase in fibrinogen and seromucoids concentrations in plasma, accompanied by 28% decline in albumin concentration in turpentine-stimulated rats. The fractional synthesis rate of these two acute-phase proteins was increased by 4.1-6.4 fold, while that of albumin (non acute-phase protein) was reduced by 32.6%. Ethanol inhibited this induction of acute-phase protein synthesis at 48 hr. The inhibition of acute-phase response by ethanol was significantly more pronounced for seromucoids than for fibrinogen and appeared to be dependent on the carbohydrate content of the acute-phase glycoprotein.